EU MINISTERS TO HOLD EMERGENCY TALKS ON TURKEY

Ireland online, Ireland
Sept 29 2005

European Union foreign ministers will hold emergency talks this
weekend to try to overcome Austrian objections to starting entry
talks with Turkey, after ambassadors failed to reach agreement today,
diplomats said.

Austria held to its position that Turkey be offered the option of a
lesser partnership rather than full membership in negotiations which
are scheduled to start on Monday.

All 25 EU nations have to agree on a negotiating mandate before talks
can begin with Ankara.

The deadlock will put further strain on ties with Ankara which is
growing increasingly restless over attempts by several EU nations to
put the brakes on opening negotiations.

A British EU presidency spokesman confirmed the EU foreign ministers
will hold talks on Sunday in Luxembourg, on the eve of the planned
opening of negotiations with Turkey. Bilateral talks will continue
in the meantime between London and Vienna to try and get Austria to
back down.

Austria says its people – and many others across the bloc – do not
support full membership for Turkey and is demanding Ankara be given
the option of a privileged partnership. Turkey firmly rejects anything
less than full membership talks.

Austria is also linking the Turkey talks with its wish to see the EU
do more to review Croatia’s now-frozen efforts to join the bloc.

Brussels has demanded that Zagreb cooperate more in handing over a
top war crimes suspect to the UN war crimes tribunal.

Diplomats said Britain and other member states were unlikely to yield
to demands to drop guarantees of full membership.

The draft mandate states the “shared objective of the negotiations
is accession,” but adds they are “open-ended.” It does not mention
a partnership as an alternative.

Membership talks would be a major milestone for Europe and
predominantly Muslim Turkey, which has been knocking on the EU’s door
since 1963.

The EU nations secured Cypriot support last week to start the talks,
after Nicosia agreed to plans that the EU push Turkey to recognise
the Mediterranean island during entry talks, leaving Austria as the
only hold up.

EU diplomats have been negotiating for nearly two months to agree on
a joint negotiating mandate and a declaration demanding that Turkey
recognise EU member Cyprus.

The declaration warns that non-recognition could paralyse the
negotiations. The EU issued the demand after Turkey said it still
refused to recognise the island’s government, which effectively
controls only the Greek Cypriot south.

Ankara said an agreement it signed in July to widen its customs union
with the EU to include Cyprus and nine other new EU members did not
amount to recognition of the Greek-Cypriot government.

Yesterday, the European Parliament added to tense EU-Turkey ties,
voting to postpone a vote to ratify Turkey’s customs union with
the EU, a requirement of membership. The politicians also called on
Ankara to recognise the 1915-1923 killings of Armenians as genocide,
which Turkey vehemently denies.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately dismissed the
non-binding European resolution on the extremely sensitive Armenian
issue.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress