Chirac hedges bets over Turkey’s EU bid

A spokesman for the French President said following a meeting of the cabinet in Paris Wednesday that Chirac had told ministers that Turkey’s EU bid was “not a done deal”.
“It is for Turkey to do the necessary to join the European Union, not for the EU to adapt to Turkey,” the spokesman quoted Chirac saying.
The president was also quoted as saying that it was his conviction that it is in the interests of France and Europe that Turkey can in the long term join the European Union if all the criteria are fulfilled.
Though Chirac repeated his support for Turkey’s bid to be given a firm date to start accession negotiations at this Decembers’ EU summit during a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Berlin Tuesday, the French President told the cabinet that Turkey will have to make a considerable effort and need a lot of time, before it is ready to join the EU.