TURKISH BUSINESS PUSHES THE CASE FOR EU ACCESSION
EurActiv, Belgium
Oct 4 2006
In Short:
The Turkey-Europe-week launched on 3 October 2006 is set out to
revive the debate about Turkish EU membership.
Background:
Accession negotiations were officially launched in October 2005.
Nevertheless, EU-Turkey relations have cooled down recently with the
main stumbling blocks on the road to accession being the Cyprus issue
and freedom of speech.
The European parliament on 27 September 2006 voted on a critical
report urging Turkey to improve its record of freedom of speech,
freedom of religion and to find a solution to the Cyprus issue.
Issues:
On the occasion of the Turkey-week, launched on 3 October 2006,
Turkish industry sought to charm EU institutions and business with
economic arguments for Turkey’s accession.
Omer Sabanci, President of Turkish Industrialists’ and Business
Association (TUSIAD) said: "What is important now is that we continue
to convince our European counterparts that they have a vested interest
in Turkey’s EU membership." He added: "Even though politicians at
present are seeing many hurdles to Turkey’s accession, business is
seeing the opportunities. Its vibrant economy, with a GDP of 300
billion euro and a growth rate of 6%, will be a great asset to the EU."
Answering a question from EurActiv on the economic integration aspect,
Sabanci emphasised the importance of economic ties, stating that
commerce between the EU and Turkey represented 80 billion euro.
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener suggested that since the customs
union between the EU and Turkey had already been completed in 1996,
his country had to make a greater effort to be an attractive economic
partner for the EU, in order to reach further integration.
Positions:
Omer Sabaci of TUSIAD said he was disappointed with the EU penalising
Turkey, despite their efforts, but acknowledged that there was "no
magic formula to break the gridlock". He thinks that Turkey with
its young and educated population could be "a great economic hub
for Europe".
Social Democrat MEP Emine Bozkurt hopes the Turkey-week might help
to revive the debate on Turkey’s EU accession. She said it was
important to acknowledge the important benefits that Turkey could
bring to the EU in economic and geo-strategic terms, but also in the
area of energy policy. Bozkurt would like to see the EU and Turkey
resolve their issues, notably over Cyprus, so as to avoid a halt of
negotiations. She said: "Once the train stops, it will be difficult
to get back on track."
Green MEP Joost Lagendijk acknowledged that the EU-Turkey relations
seem to be heading for a crisis, but that it was in the interest of
both the EU and Turkey to continue the negotiations. He is confident
that there will be progress on the Cyprus issue, "either in form of
a resolution or a compromise".
He also warned that a law penalising the denial of the Armenian
genocide, currently discussed in the French parliament, might be
counterproductive and create a nationalist backlash in Turkey.
Latest & next steps:
The Commission’s progress report on Turkey is due on 8 November
2006, along with the Commission paper on the topic of "enlargement
capacity". The Council will vote on this report in December 2006.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
