Xinhua, China
The People’s Daily, China
Oct 1 2005

Turkey expects EU to fulfill duties: FM

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Turkey had fulfilled its
responsibilities on the road to the European Union membership,
expecting the EU to do the same and conclude Turkey’s entry process
positively.

Gul made the statements as Britain, which currently holds the
six-month rotating EU presidency, has called an emergency meeting of
EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Sunday in a bid to end the
bickering over the guiding principles of Turkey’s accession talks.

“I cannot say anything definite about whether negotiations will be
opened in a few days. They may or may not be launched,” Gul told
reporters late Friday.

Turkey’s entry talks are scheduled to start on Oct. 3. EU foreign
ministers must agree on a negotiating mandate for Turkey to begin
talks at the Sunday emergency meeting, less than 24 hours away from
the scheduled negotiation date.

EU member state Austria insists that the ministerial talks aim for a
“privileged partnership” with Turkey instead of full membership.

Ankara rejects any second-class treatment. Gul warned that the
Turkish government did not think Turkey should join the EU in this
case.

“A partnership between the EU and Turkey would not be established if
the EU did not keep its promises, if leaders of the EU member states
forgot they had signed several documents or neglected their
signatures due to some reasons, and if they brought forward new
conditions which could never be accepted by Turkey,” said Gul.

“We want to start negotiations, and we are working for this but
within the framework of the realities,” Gul added.

The foreign minister also said Turkey had held meetings with leaders
of several EU member states, including Britain.

“I hope that this honest attitude of Turkey will be responded in the
similar way. And the entry process will go in the right track in the
end,” he concluded.

EU leaders agreed last December that Turkey had carried out necessary
reforms on human rights, society and economy, which qualify Ankara
for official EU membership talks.

But strains flared anew after Ankara reaffirmed in July its refusal
to recognize the Greek Cypriot government, which joined the EU on
behalf of the whole island. Ankara recognized the breakaway Turkish
Cypriot in the north.

Turkey has also come under pressure to recognize what Armenians call
a genocide against their people by the Ottoman Empire during and at
the end of World War I — an event that remains highly sensitive for
Turks.