FRENCH REJECTS TURKEY’S ACCESSION TO EU
Angus Reid Global Scan, Canada
Oct 24 2006
– Many adults in France believe the European Union (EU) should
not welcome Turkey as a member, according to a poll by Louis-Harris
released by RMC. 58 per cent of respondents reject Turkey’s accession
into the continental group.
In October 2005, the EU officially began accession talks with Turkey.
On Oct. 16, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn discussed the
current state of affairs, saying, "We have some tensions in EU-Turkey
relations, but we can’t solve problems by dramatizing them. Instead,
we have to work prudently and with full determination in order to
find solutions."
Cyprus joined the EU in 2004. Relations between the Greek majority
and the Turkish minority in Cyprus have been frayed since 1974, when
a Greek-sponsored attempt to seize the government was met by military
intervention from Turkey. In the skirmish, the Turks gained control
of almost two-fifths of the island, which in 1983 declared itself
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
On Oct. 9, French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy discussed his
conditions for Turkey’s EU accession, declaring, "The first is that
there is a bilateral commission between Armenia and Turkey which has
equal representation, so that these two countries can conduct the
work of acknowledging history. The second condition is that Turkey
reopen its borders with Armenia. And the third condition is that
Turkey gives up its penal law which forbids people speaking of the
genocide in Turkey."
Polling Data
Do you think the European Union (EU) should accept Turkey as a member?
Yes 28%
No 58%
Not sure 14%
Source: Louis-Harris / RMC Methodology: Interviews with 1,003 French
adults, conducted on Oct.
13 and Oct. 14, 2006. No margin of error was provided.
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