EU Agrees “Qualified” Membership Talks for Turkey

Diplomats said the EU leaders made it a must for Ankara to explicitly recognize the divided Mediterranean island’s government of Cyprus before accession talks start next October.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Dutch counterpart Jan Peter Balkenende were cautiously upbeat after initial late-night talks on the deal, agreed by EU heads of government over dinner Thursday, December 16.

“Let’s hope it will be for the best,” said Erdogan, confirming that talks were to resume at 8:30 a.m. (07:30 GMT) Friday, December 17.

But he said it would be difficult for him to persuade the Turkish population of the need to recognize Cyprus, the official said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

EU leaders Thursday trumpeted their offer to Turkey, which has waited for over four decades to enter the wealthy European club.

“Tonight the European Union has opened its door to Turkey,” said European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, who, if all goes smoothly, will be in charge of the negotiations with Turkey from October 3, 2005.

“We can start negotiations with Turkey on the basis of the analysis of the (EU) commission,” he said, underlining that launching the talks does not guarantee they will ultimately lead to EU membership.

Backers of Turkey’s EU hopes, notably including EU heavyweights Britain and Germany, have long argued that the country is a vital bridge between Europe and the Middle East .

But the country’s detractors, led by Austria, have maintained their doubts over the 25-nation bloc’s ability to absorb a huge, agrarian country with one foot in Asia .

They had called for Ankara to be offered a “privileged partnership” as an alternative to full EU membership, should negotiations fail.

In the end a compromise was found which said that if negotiations broke down “then it must be ensured that the candidate state … must be anchored in the European structures,” said Balkenende.

“This was a very important issue,” he added.

Taking in Turkey, a vast predominantly Muslim nation, would stretch the EU from the rainy shores of western Ireland to the borders of Iraq and Syria and necessitate a redefinition of the very concept of Europe , according to AFP.