EUobserver.com, Belgium
March 26 2007

Royal backs Turkey’s EU membership
26.03.2007 – 09:27 CET | By Honor Mahony

French socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal has spoken out
in favour of Turkish membership of the EU, putting her at odds with
her two main opponents from the right.

"Eventually Turkey has a vocation to join Europe provided it
satisfies the adhesion criteria, which are not only economic and
financial but also democratic," she says in an extract of her
campaign book published in French daily Le Monde on Sunday (24
March).

The socialist contender, currently second in the polls, said that "in
principle" she was in favour of Turkey joining the EU but "not yet
because Europe has broken down and it is necessary to revive it
before enlarging again."

Ms Royal also said that neither geography nor religion – Turkey is
predominantly muslim – should not be used a reason to discriminate
against the country.

"We should not oppose Turkey’s membership on an argument of
geography. Europe is not a territory…but a political project."

"The religious argument also does not hold. A country whose
population is mostly Muslim has a perfect right to be in Europe which
is not a club of Christian nations."

It is the first time Ms Royal has been clear on the subject. When she
was asked about it early on in her presidential campaign she was
criticised for appearing to flounder on the issue and then saying her
opinion would be that of the French people.

Although Ms Royal qualified her Turkey statements by saying Europe
first needs "a time of stabilisation of its borders" and to prove
"its concrete utility in the daily life of those it already unites"
her position is much more positive than either right wing candidate
Nicolas Sarkozy, currently topping the polls, or the centrist
Francois Bayrou, lying in third place.

Both have said that Turkey should not become a member of the European
Union.

Ankara’s EU bid has long been a thorny issue in France, with opinion
polls showing that the majority of French voters are against it
becoming a member – opposition to further enlargement of the bloc is
also thought to have played a role in France’s rejection of the EU
constitution in 2005.

On top of this, Ms Royal’s fairly positive comments towards Ankara
are tempered by the fact that at the end of the membership
negotiation process, the French will have a referendum on Turkish EU
membership, following a 2004 promise by president Jacques Chirac.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress