TURKEY TO BE FORCED TO LEAVE TALKS ON ITS OWN WILL
zaman.com
By Selcuk Gultasli
Zaman, Turkey
Sept 29 2005
It was expected that this time the Armenian issue would not be inserted
into the joint decision of the European Parliament (EP).
Even the Greens thought to submit a proposal saying that the fact
that the Armenian Conference was held in Istanbul has started a new
era in Turkey. However, they gave up with the fear that “genocide”
could be added to the proposal.
On Wednesday, the European Parliament gave a very inappropriate
reply to the conference held with the big support of Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. For the first time, the Armenian
“genocide” has been inserted into EU documents as a precondition for
membership. The draft decision can be ignored to a certain degree as
it is not binding. However, after the Cyprus counter-declaration and
the Negotiation Framework Document, the Supplementary Protocol whose
ratification was postponed yesterday, became a safety valve that
will be kept in standby which could stop the negotiations. Because,
the EP’s approval is needed for the implementation of Supplementary
Protocol; the European Parliament will shape its decision about the
Supplementary Protocol according to the attitude of Turkey.
Face to face with this picture, there are a few scenarios Turkey
can set in play over the Supplementary Protocol. Ankara can delay
the approval of the Supplementary Protocol in Turkish Grand National
Assembly (TBMM) and wait for the tension to fall. However, both the EP
and the Greek Cypriot government, together with the support of France,
Greece and Austria, will prevent this issue from getting out of the
agenda. The EU’s counter declaration already plans for the issue to
be revised in 2006.
The second possibility, in the frame of EP’s demands, is that the
government does not send the Cyprus declaration to Turkish Parliament
for ratification. Turkey has long been communicating to Europeans that
this is not possible. Another possibility is that Turkey passes the
Supplementary Protocol and the declaration; and challenges the EP. In
this case, EP will probably disapprove the Supplementary Protocol
and call for the suspension of talks.
Meanwhile, it should also be noted that the Negotiation Frame Document
(NFD) has not been approved yet. If Austria’s obstinacy of “privileged
partnership” is not stopped in today’s EU Permanent Representatives
Committee (COREPER), the emergency meeting of foreign ministers will
be held over the weekend and Turkey will be made open to last minute
accomplished facts as it was in December 17.
As the EP’s decision on Wednesday obviously showed, the EU is doing
all it can to make Turkey leave the negotiations on its own will.
Even if the negotiation process, which is made almost unsustainable
with the counter declaration, NFD, and the EP’s latest decision, starts
on October 3, until when will it last? This is the main question to
be answered now!
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress