TURKEY’S ENTRY ‘WILL DECIDE FATE OF EU’

Gulf News, United Arab Emirates
Oct 3 2005

Ankara: European leaders must decide whether the European Union will
rise to the challenge of becoming a global power or remain a “Christian
club”, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in statements
published yesterday that Turkey was not intent on starting European
Union membership talks at any price, reiterating Ankara’s position
that it will not accept new conditions or alternatives to full EU
membership.

Predominantly Muslim Turkey, a largely poor country of about 70
million, is scheduled to start long-awaited membership talks today,
but those talks have now been thrown into disarray over Austrian
objections.

EU foreign ministers were to hold a last-ditch meeting in Luxembourg
later yesterday to try and overcome reservations from Austria, which
wants Turkey to be offered a “privileged partnership” with the EU
instead of full membership.

“We are not striving to begin negotiations no matter what, at any
cost,” Gul said in an interview published in Yeni Safak newspaper.

“If the problems aren’t solved then the negotiations won’t begin.”

Several countries also have been pushing Turkey to recognise EU
member Cyprus, and the European Parliament called on Turkey this
week to recognise the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks at the
beginning of the 20th century as genocide.

Erdogan, addressing lawmakers of his party at a resort just outside
Ankara, said Europe was at a historic crossroad.

“Either it will show political maturity and become a global power,
or it will end up a Christian club,” he said.

“No EU decision will deviate Turkey from its course” toward further
democracy and reforms, he said.

“We will, however, be saddened that a project for the alliance of
civilisations will be harmed.”

Erdogan spoke to Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel by telephone on
Saturday, telling him that a privileged partnership was not an option.

After more than 40 years of aspiring to join the European Union,
Turkey feels it is being held hostage on the eve of negotiations
by Austrian leaders using Turkey’s EU bid as an issue in upcoming
national elections.

Thousands of supporters of an anti-EU ultranationalist party were
scheduled to hold a rally in Ankara yesterday, in part to protest
increasing demands and conditions being forced on Turkey.

Gul said on Saturday, “If the European Union decides not to keep its
word, if its own leaders decide to forget their signatures beneath
the decisions they’ve made before the ink has even dried … if they
decide to ignore all this and impose new conditions that Turkey will
never accept … then of course in that case this kind of partnership
can never be.”

A poll by A&G Research of 1,834 people in 19 provinces showed the
majority of Turkish people remain supportive of the EU bid, with 57.4
per cent agreeing with the statement, “Turkey must join” the EU.

The poll, taken on September 24-29, had a margin of error of 2
per cent.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress