Agence France Presse — English
September 29, 2005 Thursday

EU is testing Turkey’s patience: senior official

ANKARA

The speaker of the Turkish parliament accused the European Union
Thursday of testing Ankara’s patience by applying “double standards”
to its long-standing membership bid.

“It seems as if our patience is being tested.

Looking at what is being done to Turkey one sees that there are some
quarters that hope to get rid of us by forcing us to walk away from
the (negotiating) table,” Bulent Arinc said in an interview with NTV
television.

“When one compares the treatment of Romania, Bulgaria or Malta to the
different treatment accorded to Turkey one sees … insincerity,
double standards and discrimination,” he added.

Arinc was commenting on a resolution adopted by the European
Parliament Wednesday which urged Ankara to acknowledge that the
Ottomans committed “genocide” against Armenians during World War I
and to recognize Cyprus during its accession negotiations with the
EU.

The talks are scheduled to open Monday, but EU countries are still
bickering over the text of a negotiating framework — the guiding
procedures and principles of the talks — with Austria insisting on a
reference to an eventual “partnership” instead of full membership for
Turkey.

“It is hard to swallow all these… But we should be patient and I
believe that we will overcome many obstacles once the process
starts,” Arinc said.

The speaker stressed that he understood widespread doubts in the EU
over the prospect of admitting a vast, populous country with a
predominantly Muslim faith, but urged European leaders “to keep the
debate away from prejudices and be objective.”