Author: Hunanian Jack

A happy ending for all
By Burak Bekdil

Turkish Daily News
Dec 21 2004

TDN – Everyone looked like a winner after Friday’s historic EU summit.
If there was a genuine winner, though, it was “diplomacy.” How
could, otherwise, the final statement please Tassos Papadopoulos and
Rauf Denktas at the same time? How could it be possible, without
a skillfully crafted wording, to please Ankara, Athens, Brussels,
Berlin, Paris, London, Vienna, Rome, Copenhagen, Washington, the Arab
capitals and probably half of the other hemisphere?

The final statement is like a fairy tale: a happy ending for all. On
Friday Istanbul’s stock market closed at an all-time high. The next
day, thousands of Turks, waving Turkish and EU flags, took to the
streets to welcome the “Conqueror of Europe,” their prime minister,
in scenes perhaps too grotesque for a celebration Europeen. Probably
few in the chanting crowd knew what was there to celebrate.

Mr. Denktas, the Turkish Cypriot leader, thanked Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan for not “selling out the Turkish Cypriots” and for
“standing firm in his bargaining with the Europeans.” A few miles
to the south, Greek Cypriot leader Papadopoulos remained confident
that the strings attached to Oct. 3 would automatically guarantee
what he wanted.

No doubt, after over 40 years in the EU’s waiting room, a date for the
start of formal entry talks is a victory. But the strings attached
to the much-wanted date may put off the start of talks, suspend it,
or even if the talks open, membership may never take place, and even
if Turkey eventually joins the club, it may only get a second-grade
contract.

The trouble is, the Turks only want the gains from membership and not
the drains. They are not and probably will not be prepared to give
up the sacred sovereignty that does not fit into the club rules. For
example, different crowds with different intentions will probably
take to the streets when Turkey will be required to negotiate with the
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), or ponder autonomy for the Kurds, or
recognize the so-called Armenian genocide, or agree to not-so-favorable
conditions as for the Aegean territorial disputes with Greece.

Not only that, but, for the time being, the Turks are shrugging off
the possibility of permanent safeguards restricting the free movement
of Turkish workers and Turkish access to EU regional funds and farm
subsidies. But such discriminatory terms and conditions that violate
EU law will be real explosives as talks mature.

It is perhaps too early to sit down and ponder. Inevitably, by the
time Turkey joins the EU there will be a much different EU and a much
different Turkey. For example, a falling birthrate across the EU means
a shrinking and ageing population, raising the specter that there will
not be enough workers to pay for increasingly burdened pension systems.

In contrast, Turkey’s population is young and on the rise (about 80
million by 2015, with more than two-thirds under 35 years of age).
Demographics per se can change the terms and conditions of Turkish
entry in the future. But the shorter-term problem will be, once
again, Cyprus.

On Dec. 17 Turkey pledged to extend its 1963 Association Agreement with
the then EEC, known as the Ankara Protocol, to 10 new member states
including Cyprus, before the start of accession talks – a de facto
recognition by Ankara of Cyprus. On the other hand, Mr. Erdogan has
repeatedly said that Turkey would not recognize Cyprus, directly or
indirectly, until there is a comprehensive settlement on the divided
island. In nine months’ time, it will be extremely difficult for
Mr. Erdogan to keep both promises.

Mr. Papadopoulos has a point when he says that no one can object if
Cyprus vetoes the start of membership talks with Turkey on Oct. 3 if
Turkey does not recognize Cyprus. How will it be possible for Mr.
Erdogan to overcome a likely Cypriot veto without causing dust and
storms in his homeland?

The immediate answer is a return to the U.N.-sponsored table for a
fresh round of negotiations. But will the Greek Cypriots have any
genuine reason to “share sovereignty” with their one-time neighbors
when the slow-fuse time bomb clicks for Ankara?

Obviously, Mr. Erdogan will sweat a lot next summer when he has
to explain to millions of dubious Turks that the extension of the
Ankara Protocol to Cyprus and nine other member states will not mean
recognition. Alternatively, his government may try to extend the
protocol “with an acknowledgement of the division of Cyprus,” but,
again, that will probably fail to block a Cypriot veto.

Of course, there is going to be a massive media campaign in Turkey
in the run-up to October, and in favor of the start of talks “despite
all,” but that may be politically costly for Mr. Erdogan’s government.

On Saturday, the Conqueror of Europe was probably wearing one of his
last smiles over EU affairs. He successfully tackled the easy part of
a long journey. But the far more difficult part remains ahead. Once
again, Cyprus stands in the way between Ankara and Brussels. The
summit has not resolved the dispute but has put it on ice for another
nine months.

–Boundary_(ID_meRrYMdZzTnmWSy4Zz0mEA)–

UNIQUE CHESS TOURNAMENT STARTS ON DECEMBER 18

YEREVAN, December 20 (Noyan Tapan). The unique chess internet
tournament with the participation of the national teams of four
countries – Russia, France, China and Armenia – became the last
tournament of the arrangements dedicated to the 75th anniversary of
prominent chess-player, world nine-time champion Tigran Petrosian. The
tournament is held from December 18 to 23. It was initiated by the
Armenian “Chess” Academy with the support of the Armenian Chess
Federation.

It was mentioned during the December 17 press conference that
the chess-players will compete via internet, staying in their
countries. The national team of Russia will be in St. Petersburg,
the national team of France – in Klichie, the national team of China
– in Beijing, the national team of Armenia – in Yerevan. Armenian
chess-players will hold their games at the “Tigran Mets” hall of
Marriott-Armenia hotel. By four chess-players are involved in each
team. The Armenian national team will participate in the tournament
with the following staff: Levon Aronian, Smbat Lputian, Gabriel
Sargsian, Artashes Minasian.

The Armenian national team will hold its first match with the Russian
national team, which has the highest average rating.

ARKA News Agency
Dec 17 2004

President of Producer Center Alfael elected the chairman of
Federation of Bicycle sport in Armenia

CBA and RA Government develop strategy on decrease of shadow economy

Russian military base in Armenia represents dangerous feeling to
Turkey

*********************************************************************

PRESIDENT OF PRODUCER CENTER ALFAEL ELECTED THE CHAIRMAN OF
FEDERATION OF BICYCLE SPORT IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, December 17. /ARKA/. President of Producer Center Alfael
Levon Abaramian elected the chairman of Federation of Bicycle Sport
in Armenia, FBS told ARKA. L.D. –0–

*********************************************************************

CBA AND RA GOVERNMENT DEVELOP STRATEGY ON DECREASE OF SHADOW ECONOMY

YEREVAN, December 17. /ARKA/. CBA and RA Government develop strategy
on decrease of shadow economy, CBA Chairman Tigran Sargsian stated at
the meeting of CBA Council members with the members of Union of
Foreign Exchange Dealers of Armenia and representatives of exchange
stations. Sargsian said that the result of new strategy will be big
decrease of volumes of cash operations and big deals of exchange
stations will be strictly registered. Commenting the results of
inspections of exchange stations, Sargsian stated that similar
inspections will continue not only in the streets of Tigran Mets and
Kasian, but on other addresses as well.
Sargsian also said that at present new legal acts regulating activity
of foreign exchange dealers and exchange stations are being developed
at the moment. He offered the participants of the meeting to take
part in development of these documents and represent their offers.
L.D. –0—

*********************************************************************

RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE IN ARMENIA REPRESENTS DANGEROUS FEELING TO
TURKEY

YEREVAN, December 17. /ARKA/. Russian military base in Armenia
represents dangerous feeling to Turkey, Armenian Political Scientist
Agasi Yenokian stated at the seminar “Influence of Armenian-Russian
military cooperation on the region and international security
systems”, organized by Armenian All National Movement. According to
him, in result Turkey gathers its military potential in the region
and develops certain military plans directed against Armenia. At
this, he thinks, for Russia, military base in Armenia is extremely
important in the view of security, because removes threat from own
borders thousand kilometers south. He also said that military
presence of Russia plays negative role in Armenian-Georgian
relations.
In the frames of interstate agreement 102nd Russian military base
located in Gyumri (Armenia). L.D. –0–

*********************************************************************

–Boundary_(ID_lwLVfMlCI6tMLYxmS4oTqg)–

The dark side of Turkey’s dream

Poverty and pollution cloud Turkey’s bid to join the EU

Jonny Dymond
Sunday December 19, 2004
The Observer

More than 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) from the the conference
centre in Brussels where Turkey’s European destiny was hammered
out on Friday sits the city of Kars, in the far north-east of the
country. From Kars you can see Turkey’s borders with Armenia and
Georgia, frontiers which, if negotiations are successful, will form
the eastern edge of the European Union a decade from now. Kars is a
miserable place. Once it was rich; its broad boulevards and the few
remaining grand Russian and Armenian traders’ houses are a reminder
of days when the city was a prized possession of the Russian empire
and trade brought wealth and style.

Until the Sixties, says Erol Huryurt, owner of the city newspaper
that bears his name, there was money; he remembers the Azeri opera
and a Viennese orchestra coming to town.

‘When I was a child,’ says Huryurt, ‘I used to go round distributing
the paper. The shop owners wore suits, they were so clean cut and
polite. They knew how to behave. Now it’s all changed.’

A page from one of the earliest copies of the paper (circulation just
400) hangs on his office wall next to the 150-year-old printing press
that cranked out every copy of the paper until last year.

Beneath the lead story advising readers about the latest machinations
of the President Dwight Eisenhower about half a century ago is an
article telling of a ball to be held in the city centre. ‘All the
night will be full of surprises,’ the paper says.

The only surprise you find in Kars in the evenings now is if there
is anyone on the streets. By night the centre is deserted. Many of
the streets are pitch black, lighting being a luxury the city cannot
afford. In the day Kars has a worn-out feeling, with shabby shops
selling dusty merchandise, unemployed men gathering at street corners
like unwanted rubbish.

Like much of Turkey, Kars looks to the EU to sort out its
problems. Residents hope the country’s membership will bludgeon their
government into reopening the border with Armenia, closed since 1993,
believing trade will again flow from Armenia and the Caucasus beyond.

The city has received attention recently because it is the setting
for the most recent book, Snow, by Turkey’s renowned novelist, Orhan
Pamuk. Appearing at one of the Turkey-EU conferences that have become
a feature of Istanbul life in the past year, Pamuk stirred a sleepy
audience to wild applause with ringing praise for the change Turkey
has undergone in the past few years.

‘The EU must understand its powers of transformation. Had we discussed
the issues we have talked about today six or seven years ago we’d have
been condemned as traitors. The hope of joining the EU can change a
country,’ said the author, who has best informed the outside world
about Turkey’s struggles to understand itself.

‘We are changing, we are leaving an identity. We are stepping outside
our muddy shoes.’

Turkey’s political transformation, on paper at least, has been
breathtaking in speed and scale. Less than a decade ago the military,
which had launched three coups since 1960, eased the Islamist
government out of power. Turkey was a byword for human rights abuse
and systematic torture.

In just four years there has been a near-revolutionary change in
the judicial and constitutional infrastructure. The death penalty
has been abolished, civil and criminal codes overhauled. Education
and broadcasting in Kurdish, a language embraced by up to a fifth of
the population, has been legalised. Penalties for torture have been
raised and the military pushed out of positions of influence.

What happens in parliament in Ankara is one thing. Change on the
ground is another, however. Across the country’s troubled south-east,
which bore the brunt of the Kurdish insurrection of the Eighties and
Nineties and the state’s brutal response to it, security forces are
on high alert. Kongra-Gel, the Kurdish paramilitary group once called
the PKK, has renounced its five-year ceasefire. Human rights groups
say more than 400 people have died since the summer.

There are signs the security forces have learnt some lessons from
the days when their heavy-handed response to the PKK fed the Kurdish
resistance. Hundreds of thousands – maybe millions – of Kurds were
forced from their homes. It was a brutal operation, often conducted
at the end of a tank barrel. Villages were burnt, crops destroyed,
animals slaughtered.

Tunceli, an eastern province, was once criss-crossed with military
checkpoints; journalists sneaked in past the security forces to
where around 2,000 paramilitaries hid and operated from the Munzur
mountains. Now most checkpoints have gone but on one of the roads
out of the province’s capital one still observes military comings
and goings. But a sign apologises to travellers for any inconvenience
and wishes drivers a safe journey.

It’s good public relations, but the Kurdish conflict is not entirely
banished. In Mardin province last month a lorry driver, Ahmet Kaymaz,
and his 12 -year-old son Ugur were shot dead by the security forces
outside their home. Eleven bullets were pumped into the boy’s
back. The authorities said they were terrorists. Ugur was wearing
his slippers. Shooting first, and asking questions much later, is a
habit that dies hard.

Yet Turkey’s painful political transformation is as nothing compared
with what is to come. Over the next decade Turkey will have to put
the the EU’s 80,000 page rule book, into law.

Regulations on everything from food hygiene to child labour and bidding
for local authority contracts will have to change. Heather Grabbe,
at the office of the EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, says the
new central European members believe spending on EU compliance has cost
them between three and four per cent of their gross domestic product.

Turkey, juggling a mountain of debt, has no money to spare. And the
private sector will feel the pain too.

As night falls on Gaziantep, a south-eastern city near the Syrian
border, a belt of blackness hovers around the city. It looks almost
romantic; but it is industrial pollution.

The pollution reaches into the city centre where the air has a gritty,
slightly soupy quality. Once Turkey starts implementing EU pollution
standards, this will have to go. But, wondered one EU diplomat, what
will be reaction when factories start to close because they cannot
or will not pay to clean up their act?

Wander through Gaziantep’s streets, and at every turn you see things
that must change. The butchers who smoke as they cut meat on premises
devoid of refrigeration are in for a rude shock.

‘It will,’ says Cengiz Candar, a former adviser to the late President
Turgut Ozal, ‘be a very difficult process. It will be difficult to
swallow, and if it is swallowed it will be very difficult to digest.’

Candar believes next year will see a rise in support for nationalist
parties, as Turks vent their spleen on an EU demanding everything
and giving little back.

Just a few minutes drive from the relatively prosperous centre of
Gaziantep lies the neighbourhood of Beydile, a classic Turkish shanty
town. Breeze-block houses are thrown up at night to avoid building
regulations, and the electricity, much of it purloined from power
lines, comes and goes.

Families with seven or eight children are common: the people of
Beydile fled from further east to escape the troubles of the Kurdish
insurrection. But they brought with them the rural poverty they fled.

Many speak of Europe as if it were a pot of gold; many also express
hope that their children might escape to the sunlit uplands of the
EU. It is difficult to see what their barely educated children would
do there, except live in a different kind of poverty, devoid of the
community that just about keeps things together in Gaziantep.

Not all of Turkey is like this; but too much of it is for European
tastes. The country, says David Judson, the American-born editor of
the Turkish financial newspaper Referans, is sharply divided.

‘If western Turkey were integrating with the EU you’d be talking
about a country with a per capita income roughly approaching that of
Greece. When you add in the eastern Turkey, parts of which resemble
Afghanistan, you are dealing with a whole different set of issues.’

The bitter wrangle over the recognition of Cyprus cast a shadow over
Turkey’s triumph in Brussels; just three years ago such a result would
have been inconceivable. ‘This was a critical point in history,’ says
Kemal Koprulu, a member of one of Turkey’s most pro-EU think-tanks.

Stirring stuff. But it feels a long way from the checkpoints of
Tunceli, the shanty towns of Gaziantep and the lonely streets of
Kars. Turkey and the EU have taken a leap into the dark; never has the
EU taken on a challenge the size of Turkey; and never in a candidate
have expectations been so high.

The threat of disappointment, even disaster, will be a constant
companion on Turkey’s long journey.

Assyrian Int’l News Agency
Dec 16 2004

Turkey Still Far From European Standards of Press Freedom

Reporters Without Borders has said that Turkey is still far from
meeting European press freedom standards as the European Council
prepares to decide on 17 December whether or not to open negotiations
on Turkish EU membership.

European deputies voted on 15 December for the discussions to start
without “needless delay” but on the basis of Ankara complying with
certain conditions.

In particular they are seeking the repeal of Article 305 of Turkey’s
new criminal code, that comes into effect on 1st April 2005 and which
they consider runs contrary to freedom of expression.

“The legislative progress that has undeniably been made should not
conceal the fact that the climate remains as harsh as ever for the
most outspoken journalists,” the worldwide press freedom organisation
said.

“The press is exposed to misuse of authority by the courts, which in
practice continue to impose prison sentences and exorbitant fines
that push journalists to censor themselves extensively on the most
sensitive subjects such as the army and the Kurdish question,”
Reporters Without Borders said.

The TV and radio stations are still subject to “brazen censorship” by
the High Council for Broadcasting (RTUK), while pro-Kurdish
journalists continue to be the target of many kinds of pressure, the
organisation continued.

“Despite progress towards European standards, the gap between the
declarations of good intentions and the reality is still
considerable, with the result that Turkey still does not fulfil all
the necessary conditions for real press freedom,” it added.

Genuine progress made

The legislative amendments undertaken by Turkey with a view to
joining the European Union have been positive for journalists. Heavy
fines have replaced prison sentences in the new press law, adopted in
June. The most repressive sanctions, such as the closure of news
organisations or bans on printing and distribution, have been
eliminated, while the protection of sources has even been reinforced.

Article 159, which has led to many journalists being prosecuted for
“affront to the state and state institutions and threats to the
indivisible unity of the Turkish Republic,” was amended in 2002 and
2003, with the prison sentence being cut from one year to six months.
At the same time, criticism not intentionally aimed at “ridiculing”
or “insulting” state institutions is no longer punishable by
imprisonment.

Journalists still under pressure

Even though the new criminal code that becomes law on 1st April 2005
removes the offence of “mocking and insulting government ministers”,
there remains a problem with Article 305.

This punishes alleged “threats against fundamental national
interests”. It specifically targets freedom of expression,
particularly on issues involving Cyprus or Armenia. The European
parliament voted on 15 December for a resolution calling, among other
things, for the immediate repeal of this article, viewed as
incompatible with the 1950 Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Contrary to European standards, the new criminal code stipulates that
insult is punishable by three months to three years in prison, with
the sentence increasing if the offence is committed by means of the
press (Article 127).

In practice, judges still interpret the concept of “criticism” very
subjectively and abusive prosecutions continue.

Four journalists with the pro-Kurdish daily Yeniden ?zg?r G?ndem who
criticised government policy on the Iraq war were brought before the
courts in 2003 while online journalist Erol ?skoray was detained for
“mocking” and “insulting” the army. Sabri Ejder ?zi?, the manager of
Radyo D?nya, a local radio station in the southern city of Adana, was
sentenced to a year in prison for offending parliament.

Hakan Albayrak, a former editorialist for the daily Milli Gazete, was
imprisoned on 20 May and is serving a 15-month prison sentence for
“attacking the memory of Ataturk” in violation of the 1951 law
governing crimes against Kemal Ataturk. Article 1 of this law
punishes any offence against the Republic of Turkey’s founder by one
to three years in prison. Article 2 doubles the sentence if it is
committed by means of the press.

On 15 October, Sebati Karakurt of the daily Hurriyet was held for 12
hours at the headquarters of the anti-terrorist police in Istanbul
and some 10 policemen searched his home. It stemmed from a report
published a few days earlier that included an interview with Murat
Karayilan, the military chief of the former Kurdish Workers’ Party
(PKK), now renamed Kongra-Gel. The report included photos showing
female rebels in combat fatigues in a favourable light, relaxed and
smiling. Karakurt was released after being interrogated by the police
and a prosecutor.

Memik Horuz, the managing editor of the far-left newspaper Is?i
K?yl?, has spent years in prison for the views he expressed in the
course of their journalistic work.

Pro-Kurdish media targeted

While the national radio and TV stations are now allowed to use the
Kurdish language, the RT?K continues to impose disproportionate
sanctions – ranging from warnings to withdrawal of licence – against
pro-Kurdish media or media that are very critical of the government.

?zg?r Radyo, a local radio station in Istanbul, was sentenced by the
RT?K to a month’s closure for “inciting violence, terror,
discrimination on the basis of race, region, language, religion or
sect or the broadcasting of programmes that arouse feelings of hatred
in society.” The station stopped broadcasting on 18 August. In the
event of a further offence, the RT?K could withdraw its licence
altogether.

G?nes TV, a local television station in the eastern city of Malatya,
was also forced to stop broadcasting for a month from 30 March. This
was because the RT?K accused it of “attacking the state’s existence
and independence, and the country’s indivisible unity with the people
and Ataturk’s principles and reforms” under article 4 of RT?K law
3984. Using the same article, the RT?K closed down local TV station
ART in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir on 15 August 2003 for
broadcasting two love songs in Kurdish.

Mass detentions of pro-Kurdish journalists by the anti-terrorist
police on the eve of the NATO summit in Istanbul on 28-29 June 2004
were also indicative of the treatment reserved for the pro-Kurdish
press.

Finally, nine journalists covering the dispersal of protesters
against electoral fraud were badly beaten by police in Diyarbakir
during the 28 March local elections and three of them had to be
hospitalised. Those responsible have still not been punished.

Reporters Without Borders defends imprisoned journalists and press
freedom throughout the world, as well as the right to inform the
public and to be informed, in accordance with Article 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Reporters Without Borders has
nine national sections (in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), representatives
in Abidjan, Bangkok, Istanbul, Montreal, Moscow, New York, Tokyo and
Washington and more than a hundred correspondents worldwide.

Turkey: This is the moment… but EU goes back in the fridge if terms are too tough
by Anthony Browne, Brussels Correspondent

The Times (London)
December 16, 2004, Thursday

TURKEY gave warning yesterday that it would abandon its 40-year dream
of joining the European Union if it is presented with unacceptable
conditions by EU leaders at a dinner in Brussels tonight.

In an apparent last-minute attempt to soften entry conditions,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, said that he could
modernise his country without the EU. He made the statement just as
the European Parliament voted to let Turkey join the EU, and Jose
Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, said:
“This is the moment.”

Tony Blair and his counterparts in the European Council are almost
certain to approve starting entry talks with Turkey tonight. However,
they are set to include a series of conditions to appease the deep
misgivings in many member states about letting such a large, poor,
Muslim and mainly Asian country become the biggest member of the Union.

France and Austria are demanding that entry talks should not
necessarily lead to full membership, while EU leaders have already
agreed that Turks could be permanently barred from the right to live
and work in EU countries, a right given to other EU citizens. Turkey
will also be required to reach a deal on Cyprus, and officially
recognise the Cypriot Government.

Almost unanimous agreement has been reached between member states. A
British official said last night: “It’s within grasp, but not in the
bag. We are almost there, but not there.”

However, Mr Erdogan dramatically upped the stakes in unusually
forthright language, saying as he left for Brussels: “We do not
expect any unacceptable conditions to be put before us, but if such
conditions are imposed…we will definitely put the matter in the
refrigerator and continue on our way.”

Asked whether it would make a difference to the final hours of
negotiations, the British official said: “It’s a factor. It’s going
to be on people’s minds; of course it is.”

Turkey is particularly annoyed at the demand for a “permanent”
safeguard against Turkish immigration to Western Europe, and at the
suggestion that entry talks – which are expected to last ten years
-may end only in a “privileged partnership” and not full membership.

Wolfgang Schussel, the Austrian Chancellor, insisted that the EU must
make it clear that the talks will not necessarily lead to membership.
“It has to be in there that the result will come from an open process,
and that this result cannot be guaranteed in advance,” he said,
adding that he would not accept giving all Turks the right to work
anywhere in the EU. “This would overwhelm the capacity of our labour
markets in the EU,” he said.

Mr Erdogan said that his campaign to join the EU, which has been his
top political priority for the past two years, was a “civilisation
project” to modernise Turkey.

However, he insisted that the country could carry on without the EU.

“We want to move this project forward together with the European
Union…but if unacceptable conditions are put forward,” he said. “I
have to openly say that this will not be the end of the world. We
will continue on our way, because Turkey is strong enough to shoulder
this task.”

Abdullah Gul, the Turkish Foreign Minister, said: “What we demand
is nothing more than our legitimate rights. We will not accept any
injustice.”

The threat is likely to cause annoyance with more sceptical EU
leaders, who feel that Turkey is trying to bully its way into the EU.
Last weekend Mr Erdogan said that Islamic terrorism would continue
unaba-ted unless the EU stopped being a “Christian club”.

In many European countries already struggling to integrate Muslim
minorities, such as France and Germany, there is widespread popular
opposition to letting Turkey join.

In London, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, set out the reasons
for membership to the House of Commons. “Turkey’s dynamic economy and
society would be a valuable asset to the whole of Europe,” he said,
“but Turkey’s European destiny is also important for wider reasons,
because of the signal which a European Turkey would send to people
everywhere of Europe’s commitment to diversity and to truly universal
values.

“We want to see an economically successful, democratic Turkey anchored
in Europe and that would deal a heavy blow to those who stoke up
mistrust and division and it could be an inspiration to many others
in the Muslim world.”

After a bitter debate, the European Parliament in Strasbourg passed
a non binding motion calling on EU leaders to start entry talks
with Turkey, by 407 votes to 262. The Parliament urged EU leaders to
open talks with Turkey “without undue delay” and rejected decisively
amendments offering a “special partnership.”

It also called on Turkey to accept that it committed genocide against
the Armenians in 1915, a condition that France has also insisted on
but that Turkey has rejected.

As the momentum to start negotiations seemed unstoppable, Senhor
Barroso said: “It is now time for the European Council to honour
its commitment to Turkey and announce the opening of accession
negotiations.”

He insisted that current concerns about Turkey should not be used
as an excuse to delay negotiations. “I believe this is the moment,”
he said. “In ten years, Turkey won’t be the same as today…and fears
that exist today can be put aside.”

*THE LONG ROAD TO EUROPE

1952: Turkey joins Nato

1963: Turkey signs first “association agreement” with the European
Economic Community, offering possibility of eventual membership

1980-1986: “Association agreement” suspended after a military coup

1987: Turkey formally applies for EU membership

1989: European Commission rejects Turkey’s application because of
human rights abuses

1996: Customs union starts, giving Turkey access to the EU single
market

1999: European Union accepts Turkey as an official candidate

2002: EU leaders set down human rights and political conditions for
starting membership talks with Turkey

October 2004: European Commission’s EU executive declares that Turkey
has met conditions and recommends that formal membership talks begin

December 16: EU leaders decide on membership talks

Blair, Azeri president discuss ties, Karabakh

Space TV, Baku
15 Dec 04

[Presenter, over video of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and
British Prime Minister Tony Blair shaking hands at 10 Downing Street]
A few hours ago President Ilham Aliyev completed his visit to Britain
and returned home.

On the last day of his London visit Aliyev met British Prime Minister
Tony Blair. The talks focused on the ways of resolving the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. The sides also
discussed prospects of Azerbaijani-British relations, regional
cooperation, international issues and our country’s integration into
the EU. Views were exchanged on issues of mutual interest as well.

France ‘surprises’ Turkey over Armenian Genocide

15.12.2004 12:56

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – France “surprised” Turkey ahead of the December 17
summit which is to make a crucial on Turkish accession talks, Turkish
newspaper Hurriyet wrote, according to the Armenian news agency
Armenpress.

“It is Armenia that should be the first in exercising the EU
reconciliation culture with its neighbors. Armenia should drop the
claims that have nothing to do with Turkey,” Ankara said, according to
Armenpress. The statement came after French Foreign Minister Michel
Barnier had said France would insist on Turkey’s admitting to the
Armenian Genocide and that Turkey should exercise the EU
reconciliation culture.

According to another Turkish newspaper, Milliyet, Dutch Foreign
Minister Bernard Bot, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency,
in an alleviation effort, told journalists that the French foreign
minister did not insist on Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian
Genocide, and only meant that the issue is not a pre-condition for
accession talks, Armenpress reported.

La Tribune
15 décembre 2004

LE FMI APPORTE SA CAUTION FINANCIÈRE À LA CANDIDATURE TURQUE

Le FMI et Ankara ont conclu hier un nouvel accord stand-by de 10
milliards de dollars pour les trois prochaines années. La Turquie
devrait obtenir en fin de semaine des Vingt-Cinq l’ouverture des
négociations d’adhésion.

A deux jours du sommet européen de Bruxelles qui doit sceller son
destin communautaire, la Turquie a obtenu du Fonds monétaire
international (FMI) un sérieux coup de pouce. L’institution
financière internationale et le gouvernement d’Ankara ont en effet
annoncé hier un nouvel accord stand-by de 10 milliards de dollars sur
trois ans. Celui-ci vise à rendre durables les progrès
macroéconomiques accomplis par la Turquie lors d’un précédent
programme qui, octroyé en 2002 pour une période de trois ans, portait
sur un montant de 16 milliards de dollars. Ce nouvel accord renforce
les perspectives économiques de la Turquie dans sa longue marche pour
la convergence de son économie vers les standards des Vingt-Cinq.

Les principaux objectifs du nouveau programme seront d’atteindre une
croissance durable et de réduire l’inflation, a souligné Ali Babacan,
le ministre turc de l’Economie. Depuis la faillite financière de
2001, la Turquie a réussi à réduire d’une manière spectaculaire son
inflation chronique. Elle devrait passer sous la barre des 10 % cette
année et Ankara table sur une inflation de 4 % à l’horizon 2007. La
Turquie s’est engagée à réduire parallèlement sa dette, qui, évaluée
à 220 milliards de dollars en octobre, représente 80 % du PIB.

Réticences. L’octroi de ce nouveau programme d’aide du FMI laisse
augurer une issue positive et historique pour la Turquie en cette fin
de semaine à Bruxelles. Car, sauf surprise de dernière heure, Ankara
devrait obtenir des Vingt-Cinq l’ouverture des négociations
d’adhésion à l’Union européenne. Hier, le Premier ministre turc,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a une nouvelle fois lancé un vibrant appel aux
dirigeants européens. “Nous n’accepterons aucune autre perspective
qu’une adhésion pleine”, a-t-il déclaré. Les Etats les plus réticents
à l’entrée de ce grand pays musulman situé aux marges de l’Europe
semblent avoir baissé pavillon, même s’ils laissent entendre que
l’issue des négociations demeure “ouverte”.

Le chancelier autrichien Wolfgang Schlüssel, dont les concitoyens
sont les plus hostiles dans l’UE à l’adhésion turque, a ainsi réclamé
que les négociations soient un “processus ouvert”. “Il faut
encourager le cours ambitieux des réformes en Turquie. […] Les
perspectives d’adhésion auxquelles la Turquie a travaillé pendant des
décennies doivent demeurer”, a-t-il souligné. La France a certes
relancé la question du génocide arménien – “c’est une blessure qui ne
cicatrise pas”, a déclaré à l’Assemblée nationale le ministre des
Affaires étrangères, Michel Barnier – mais, contrairement à ce qui
avait été annoncé lundi, elle n’en fera pas un préalable pour
l’ouverture des négociations d’adhésion. Alors qu’un nouveau sondage
CSA indique qu’un Français sur deux est opposé à l’entrée de la
Turquie dans l’UE contre 37 % d’opinions favorables, Jacques Chirac
interviendra ce soir à la télévision pour expliquer une nouvelle fois
les raisons de son engagement en faveur de la candidature turque,
malgré les réticences fortes de sa famille politique, l’UMP.

Agence France Presse
Dec 14 2004

Chirac expresses concerns to Dutch PM over Turkey’s EU bid
13/12/2004

President Jacques Chirac expressed France’s concerns Monday over
talks this week aimed at deciding whether Turkey will join the
European Union, during a meeting with the visiting Dutch prime
minister.
Chirac reminded Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, whose country
currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, of “France’s
preoccupations with regard to the talks,” according to Chirac’s
spokesman Jerome Bonnafont.
The French president also “expressed confidence that the Dutch
presidency would take France’s concerns into consideration,” said
Bonnafont.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Balkenende said the French
president had made clear to him the concerns of the French parliament
and the French people with regard to the negotiations with Turkey on
joining the EU.
“The objective is (Turkey) joining, but we also have to imagine that
the talks might not necessarily end in a yes,” said Balkenende.
“We are going to continue our talks and consultations with the other
member countries,” said the Dutch PM, adding, “we all know that there
are differing positions in Europe when it comes to Turkey.”
EU leaders are expected to give Turkey a conditional green light at a
summit on Thursday and Friday this week to start entry talks, while
setting a series of strict conditions and warning the process could
take at least a decade.
France would like to see provisions for a strong link with Ankara in
case negotiations for full membership fail — although Paris has not
argued for the kind of scaled back partnership opponents of Turkey’s
EU bid would like to see.
Ankara has made it clear that it wants no other status but full
membership in the European club.
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier called Monday for the EU to
start entry talks with Turkey at the earliest next July, giving
ground on a previous call for them to be at the end of 2005 or in
2006.
Barnier also said that France wanted Turkey to acknowledge the World
War I massacre of Armenians during negotiations on its EU membership.