Europe, Headlines, Middle East & North Africa

POLITICS-EU: E-Day Looms for Turkey

Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Dec 13 2004 (IPS) - EU leaders will debate Turkey’s move to join the bloc this week but it remains unclear when the negotiations on Turkey’s entry can start, and what conditions the bloc may attach to them.

Turkey is widely expected to get a conditional green light to start negotiations to join the 25-member bloc at a heads of state summit in Brussels (Thursday and Friday) Dec. 16-17, but there is growing public and political opposition in Europe to accession for the Muslim country.

The most pro-Turkey EU states, including Britain, Italy, Spain and Germany, argue that admitting Turkey is a strategic priority as a bridge with the Muslim world.

Sceptics, including the governments of Austria, Denmark and Cyprus say Turkey is too big, too different and too poor to join the bloc. These countries insist that this week’s summit should stress that entry talks will be long and are not guaranteed to succeed.

And there are those who advocate a middle ground.

In recent months, opposition and other leaders in France, Austria and Germany have suggested Turkey be given a “privileged partnership” instead of full membership.

Even if Turkey gets the green light for membership negotiations Friday, it is not clear whether EU leaders will agree a specific date to start talks. Many countries, most notably France, say negotiations should be pushed back until the second half of next year.

Uncertainty over Turkey is not confined to the bloc’s elite. There is dissent amongst EU citizens.

A Eurobarometer poll released by the European Commission, the EU executive, Friday (Dec. 10) revealed that 35 percent of Europeans – mainly in Austria, Finland, France, Germany and Luxembourg – are against further enlargement, with 53 percent in favour and 12 percent saying they do not know.

Turkey, with a population of some 70 million Muslims, first applied for EU membership in 1963. Although it is widely acknowledged that it has made huge progress in political reforms in recent years, concerns remain about its commitment to implement laws banning torture and ensuring freedom of religion, and about consequences for the EU labour market.

Turkey is at also odds with the bloc over Cyprus – an EU member since May – which Turkey invaded in 1974 to prevent Greek Cypriots from seeking union with Greece.

In October this year the European Commission recommended a start to negotiations for Turkey to join the EU, but insisted that strict conditions be met.

Entry conditions have yet to formalised, but they are expected to be tough.

The latest draft proposals circulated by the Dutch EU presidency over the weekend indicate that Turkey may be required to recognise Cyprus and to accept permanent restrictions on the movement of its workers.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan bluntly rejected such conditions as “unacceptable” when he met European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso Friday (Dec 10).

The draft reportedly suggests also that Turkey’s entry could be suspended if requested by at least a third of EU states.

Erdogan insists that a negative decision against Turkey would be taken as discrimination.

“A European Union in which Turkey, whose people are 99 percent Muslim, does not have a place would be an expression of the European Union being a Christian club,” he said.

Erdogan also flatly rejected the “privileged partnership” idea, saying his country’s aim was “definite and unconditional” membership. “We will tolerate no expression (at the EU summit) that might overshadow or dilute this,” he said.

Olli Rehn, the EU’s enlargement commissioner, who is due to meet Erdogan this week, also favours the full membership option.

He says Turkey already has a customs union agreement with the EU and is part of certain European crisis-management operations.

“In other words, Turkey already has a special relationship with the EU and therefore I have difficulties to see that would be an attractive option to anybody,” he said.