TURKEY CHALLENGES EU TO BE “WORLD PLAYER”
Deutsche Welle, Germany
Oct 2 2005
Turkey’s prime minister challenged the European Union on Sunday
to be a “world player” rather than a “Christian club,” as the bloc
deliberated whether to open formal membership talks with the largely
Muslim country.
“The picture … will be very telling, not just for the future of
Turkey but also for that of the EU,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a
conference of his Justice and Development Party in the northwestern
spa resort of Kizilcahamam.
“Either the EU will decide to become a world force and a world player,
which would show its political maturity, or it will limit itself
to a Christian club,” Erdogan added, in an address broadcast by the
CNN Turkey TV station. The prime minister described the decision on
opening formal accession talks as a “test” of the bloc’s commitment
to the values of pluralism and democracy.
EU foreign ministers met in Luxembourg on Sunday night in an 11th hour
bid to agree a negotiating framework, which has so far been blocked
by Austria’s objection to full membership for Turkey. Vienna favors
the alternative of a “privileged partnership” with Turkey, an option
rejected by Ankara, which threatened this week to not attend Monday’s
negotiations if such a plan was on the table.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, arriving for the emergency
meeting, warned that the 25-member bloc stands at a key moment in
its history as it prepares to start membership talks with Turkey.
“This is a crucial meeting for the future of the European Union,”
he said, underlining that failure to start the talks “would represent
a failure for the European Union.”
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana voiced optimism about the
talks. “I think we will find a deal tonight,” he said.
But France’s foreign minister said that the starting of talks doesn’t
guarantee eventual membership. Many top French politicians favor the
“privileged partnership” option.
“To make believe that negotiations mean entry, that’s a lie, Philippe
Douste-Blazy said in a radio and television interview.
Now or never
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul warned Sunday that Turkey was
unlikely to reopen membership negotiations if official entry talks
did not begin as scheduled on Monday.
“I cannot see them happening again,” he said in an interview with the
Yeni Safak newspaper. Saying that he considered Oct. 3 as nothing
more than an “implementation date” for decisions already taken by
the bloc in December, Gul reiterated that Turkey was not prepared to
“begin negotiations whatever the price.”
The bloc approved Monday’s planned accession talks on Dec. 17,
providing that Turkey implemented certain legal reforms and broadened
a customs union to take in 10 new member states, including the disputed
island of Cyprus.
Turkey has met these obligations, although concerns were raised at the
European Parliament in Strasbourg last week over Ankara’s refusal to
let Cypriot ships and planes use its ports and airports, as required
by the customs deal.
Relations with the bloc have also been strained by Turkey’s declaration
in July reaffirming its refusal to recognize the government of Cyprus
and by Ankara’s refusal to recognize a genocide” against Armenians
under the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, a highly sensitive
issue for Turkey.