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Turkish shadow over EU summit
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- France and Germany are leading calls within the European Union to open membership talks with Turkey in 2005 if it passes a progress review in 2004. The move is likely to please Washington, which sees Turkey as a key, strategically-placed NATO ally, but Turkish admission into the EU is being resisted by some European leaders and senior officials. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said the proposal would be discussed at the EU summit in Copenhagen later this week. Fischer said: "I hope that the Turkish side can also see how wide this opens the door in favour of Turkish interests." Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan has accused the EU of double standards for not giving Ankara an earlier, firmer date for entry talks. Turkey's human rights record led to the postponement of talks on its entry into the EU when a list of 10 countries considered ready for membership in 2004 was revealed in October. A European Commission report said Turkey met political and economic membership criteria but needed to improve its human rights record. Turkey's geographically strategic position, neighbouring Iraq and lying partly in Asia, has not been ignored by the United States, which has lobbied the EU to accept Istanbul's membership. If it is admitted, Turkey, with its population of 70 million, would be the second most populous country in the European Union behind Germany. But Turkey, an applicant state since 1999, has not yet been given a date yet for the start of negotiations. CNN's European Political Editor Robin Oakley said the Turks now have two things going for them. "They hold the key to a peace deal in Cyprus, the island divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, where the EU wants a settlement before Cypriot admission. And the United States is pushing the EU to be nice to Turkey," he said. Paul Wolfowitz, the U.S. Deputy Defence Secretary, told CNN: "It would be to the benefit not only of Turkey and Europe but to the entire world, including my country, if the December 12 European Union summit in Copenhagen can succeed in advancing two important goals -- a settlement in Cyprus and an agreement on a date to begin talks on Turkish membership in the EU." Nicholas Burns, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, said: "Turkey is the only Muslim country in NATO. "It's a secular, democratic country. It is a model for what we want Muslim countries and Arab countries to be in the future." But some warn that U.S. interference could prove counter-productive to Turkey's ambitions.
Chris Patten, the EU Commissioner, said: "Most of us have lost count of the numbers of times American officials have offered Turkey membership of the EU. "I sometimes think that perhaps we should offer Mexico membership of the United States." European Commission President Romano Prodi told Reuters on Monday that the time for Turkish entry was not yet ripe, adding the EU should not bow to U.S. pressure. "We have to stop and think. Not stop and close the door forever but we Europeans have to decide which are the borders of Europe," he said. "We hear some strong statements on the American side for Turkey (but) it must be a European decision." EU leaders will gather on Thursday and Friday to conclude enlargement talks with 10 candidate countries. The 10 candidates expected to join the EU on May 1, 2004 -- if the Copenhagen summit ends in agreement -- are Cyprus, Malta, Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
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