TURKEY IS PART OF THE SOLUTION, NOT OF THE PROBLEM, SAYS ITS EU MINISTER

Penki
Dec 4 2009
Italy

Turkey’s progress this year on the path to EU accession was debated
by its EU affairs minister and chief negotiator Egemen Bagis and
Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs on 2 December. His visit coincided
with the committee’s first discussion of a draft report on Turkey by
Ria Oomen-Ruijten (EPP, NL).

Given the challenges that the EU faces – such as energy security,
climate change, and economic crisis – "Turkey is committed to
contribute to the solutions and is not part of the problem", Turkish
Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis told the
Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr Bagis_ reaffirmed Turkey’s determination to pursue the EU accession
process, as demonstrated by its 4-year national reform programme,
despite the fact that negotiations on several issues had been halted
by Turkey’s failure to apply to Cyprus the Additional Protocol to
the Ankara Agreement.

Copenhagen criteria

EP rapporteur on Turkey Ria Oomen-Ruijten (EPP, NL) stressed that even
though Turkey had passed laws relevant to the Copenhagen political
criteria, it was still doing too little to implement them, particularly
in the areas of women’s rights and non-discrimination.

She also asked what Turkey would do to enable the ratification of the
protocol with Armenia, to which Mr Bagis_ replied that "Turkey wants
to move forwards and have good relations with all its neighbours".

Asked by Alexander Graf Lambsdorff (ALDE, DE) when Turkey will achieve
a breakthrough on constitutional reform, Mr Bagis_ replied "because
2010 will be a year without elections in Turkey, the government will
try to reach a consensus with the opposition in order to enable the
constitutional reform".

Bilateral issues

"How can Turkey continue to move towards the EU if it does not
solve its bilateral issues?" asked Marietta Giannakou (EPP, EL),
in a reference to Cyprus. "Why are you maintaining the status quo on
occupation of Cyprus?" asked Takis Hadjigeorgiou (GUE/NGL, CY).

"Regarding Cyprus, it takes two to tango" replied Mr Bagis_, adding
that "the final solution must be based on equality".

Maria Eleni Koppa (S&D, EL) criticised Turkey’s violation of Greek
air space in the Aegean sea. "We need to start exploratory talks to
define air space", replied Mr Bagis_.

Readmission agreement

"Illegal immigration is not just a Greek and Turkish issue, but
a European one" and the EU-Turkey Readmission Agreement must be
concluded on the principle of "common burden sharing", said Mr Bagis
in reply to questions from several MEPs. For several decades, Turkish
goods have been able to move freely within the EU, whereas Turkish
citizens cannot, he added.

Religious minority rights

Commenting on debate over the Swiss referendum decision to ban the
building of minarets and the problems still faced by religious
minorities in Turkey, Mr Bagis_ said that "Turkey is a place of
co-existence and has a history of more than 800 years in which
different cultures live together."

Afghanistan

Replying to a question from Geoffrey Van Orden (ECR, UK) as to whether
Turkey intends to reinforce its troops in Afghanistan, Mr Bagis_ noted
that for the third time, his country was leading the International
Security Assistance Force command and "if all members of NATO decide
to increase participation, Turkey will not differ on that."

Iran

Elmar Brok (EPP, DE) asked about developments in Iran and Turkey’s
possible involvement in exporting nuclear materials. Mr Mr Bagis_
stressed the importance if dialogue with Iran, adding that "if Iran
had nuclear weapons we would be more worried then you are."