France, Germany Agree on EU Turkey Review – Chirac
The deal between Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder falls short of Turkey’s demand for nothing less than a clear date for starting talks from next week’s European Union summit in Copenhagen. The dates are also later than Ankara wants.
The United States has applied public pressure on the EU to take a decisive step toward admitting Turkey, a NATO ally vital for any military action against Iraq and elsewhere in the region.
Diplomats in Brussels said the 15-nation EU was unlikely to go much beyond the Franco-German position since public opinion in many member states was frightened of admitting Turkey, a secular but overwhelmingly Muslim country of nearly 70 million.
“Concerning France and Germany, we thought our position could be the following: December 2004, a meeting of sorts to examine… whether Turkey fully respects the Copenhagen criteria,” Chirac told reporters.
“Should this be the case — start of negotiations from July 2005,” he said after meeting Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Rasmussen, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, said he would make what he called a “balanced” offer to Turkey but gave no details.
He said in London earlier that opinions differed widely among EU leaders. He had offered five or six alternatives and would make a final evaluation of their responses next week.
BIG DISAPPOINTMENT FOR TURKEY
Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said any EU decision short of a solid date for talks would be a big disappointment.
“Interim formulae that do not include giving Turkey a definite date for negotiations will be a long way from meeting the expectations of our government and our people,” Gul said.
Such an outcome could cloud United Nations-mediated efforts to end the division of Cyprus before it joins the EU in 2004, since diplomats say Turkish Cypriot acceptance of a U.N. peace plan has become intertwined with Turkey’s own EU bid.
The December 12-13 EU summit is due to conclude entry talks with 10 countries, including Cyprus, which has been divided since Turkey invaded the north in 1974 in reaction to a pro-Greek coup in Nicosia.
If Ankara is not satisfied with the offer it receives, it may not push reluctant Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to sign up to U.N. proposals as a basis for a settlement.
The EU says Turkey must end torture, punish torturers, free all political prisoners, widen freedom of speech, improve minority rights and get the military out of politics to meet its so-called Copenhagen criteria for membership.
It also insists that Ankara clear the way for Europe to gain assured access to NATO planning and assets for its own military operations before its candidacy moves forward.
Britain has taken a similar line to the United States. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told a London press lunch: “There is no reason why a firm date cannot now be set for the beginning of those negotiations (for Turkey).”
But U.S. lobbying has raised hackles elsewhere in Europe. Elmar Brok, chairman of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said: “The United States does not always understand that the EU is not just a free trade area. Would they be willing to admit Mexico?”
Austria, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, all with Christian Democratic leaders, are most reticent about giving Turkey any clear path to membership, while Britain, Italy and Greece are most supportive of setting a date now.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Veheugen voiced concern this week that parliamentary ratification of the current wave of enlargement, involving 10 mostly ex-communist states, could be jeopardized in some member states if it became linked to a debate about Turkey.
The Franco-German compromise would delay the review of Ankara’s candidacy until ratification was over. (additional reporting by Paul Taylor, Yves Clarisse, Gareth Jones, Katherine Baldwin)
