TURKEY BEGINS EU MEMBERSHIP TALKS
DeHavilland, UK
Oct 4 2005
Turkey has begun membership talks with the EU after a diplomatic
crisis was averted.
Abdullah Gul, foreign minister for Turkey, arrived in Luxembourg for
the opening ceremony last night and was greeted by British foreign
secretary Jack Straw, who described the event as a “truly historic
day for Europe and the whole of the international community”.
Mr Gul agreed, saying that a “historic point has been reached” and
confirming that Turkey had been offered full membership.
“The text sets out very clearly the prospect of full membership.
There is no alternative option [mentioned],” he said.
Earlier in the day it seemed that Austria would scupper the talks by
demanding that Turkey should be offered only associative membership
of the EU.
But the demand was withdrawn, and some commentators are suggesting
that Austria was mollified by an agreement to begin membership talks
for Croatia.
Many in Austria and other European countries have concerns about
Turkey’s prospective membership of the EU, and point to the country’s
poor recent record on democratic principles such as freedom of speech.
Last week the Turkish judiciary banned a conference scheduled to
discuss the Armenian massacres of 1915, which the authorities refuse
to acknowledge was an act of genocide by the Ottoman Empire.
But the secular Muslim state will have to wait more than a decade
before finally gaining accession status and Mr Straw and others have
urged Turkey to make progress with its democratic reforms.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress