Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Turkey/EU: Chaos ahead of membership talks underscore hesitations

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Turkey/EU: Chaos ahead of membership talks underscore hesitations

    Associated Press Worldstream
    September 30, 2005 Friday 8:53 AM Eastern Time

    Chaos ahead of membership talks underscore hesitations about letting
    Turkey into EU

    by CONSTANT BRAND; Associated Press Writer

    BRUSSELS, Belgium

    In Austria, a far-right party has plastered walls with the slogan
    "Vienna must not become Istanbul!" Polls show that not one EU country
    has a majority who support Turkey's membership bid. Turks themselves
    are wondering if it's all worth the effort.

    As chaos swirls over last-minute obstacles set up by Austria,
    Turkey's hopes of one day joining the EU - or even of starting
    negotiations Monday as planned - are increasingly in doubt.

    The opening ceremony in Luxembourg - replete with champagne toasts,
    handshakes and a celebratory dinner - has been a moment Turkey has
    coveted for over four decades. But Austria's sudden insistence that
    the EU offer Turkey a lesser partnership instead of full membership
    has thrown the process into disarray.

    Diplomats were scrambling to achieve a breakthrough Friday, as Turkey
    threatened to keep its delegation home until it saw a document
    outlining exactly what it would be negotiating for.

    The Austrian position may reflect a growing resistance on the
    continent to welcoming a poor, mainly Muslim nation whose population
    is soon set to overtake the 80 million of Europe's largest nation,
    Germany.

    "I don't think Turkey should join the EU. There's the religion - they
    still are quite fanatic - and I don't think Turkey is European
    enough. It's more Asian," said Martin Maikisch, a 23-year-old
    bookkeeper from the small eastern Austrian town of Guessing.

    In London, 42-year-old zoologist Dave Clarke was worried about
    extending Europe's borders indefinitely, saying: "I have nothing
    against Turkey per se, but the EU has to decide how far it extends.
    There has got to be a limit."

    Recent surveys across Europe have found a majority of Europeans
    oppose Turkish membership. An EU survey published this week found
    only 10 percent of Austrians support Turkey's membership, while
    support across the 25-nation bloc stood at just 35 percent.

    For EU nations struggling with high unemployment and worried they
    might have to scuttle time-honored social protections, Turkey was
    always going to be a hard sell. But the rejections by France and the
    Netherlands of the draft EU constitution have put Europeans in an
    even more inward-looking mood.

    The stinging repudiations in May and June were largely seen as a cry
    of alarm about the bloc's rapid expansion; they have even called into
    question of membership for Romania and Bulgaria, which are expected
    to join in 2007.

    Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Danish media this
    week that the EU had to heed public concerns. "My overall conclusion
    is that we must lower the pace and consolidate the EU," he said.

    Advocates of Turkish membership argue that welcoming Turkey would
    send a positive signal to the Muslim world and strengthen a crucial
    security alliance as Europe confronts the problem of terrorism on its
    own soil. The European deadlock threatens to alienate Islamic nations
    - fueling bitterness and suspicions that the West isn't willing to
    accept Muslims on equal footing.

    Turkish newspapers reflected growing anxiety that the EU is about to
    break its word. Daily Sabah newspaper devoted its entire front page
    Friday to "a historic warning" to EU leaders.

    "Does the EU realize that it is playing with fire," wrote daily
    Milliyet columnist Hasan Cemal. "There is no end to the dynamites
    being thrown" on Turkey's EU path. "They think that the Turkish
    public opinion is a stone of patience."

    Even if negotiations open on Monday, they will be tough: The EU has
    made clear the talks offer "no guarantee" of success and they are
    likely to continue for up to 15 years.

    Cyprus has raised threats of blocking the talks once they start if
    Turkey does not move quickly to recognize the island during the
    talks. Nicosia grudgingly backed off from demands earlier this month
    that Turkey recognize the EU member before the start of negotiations.

    The European Parliament this week added new demands that Turkey
    recognize the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks at the beginning
    of the 20th century as genocide during the talks. And France - where
    polls show deep resistance to Turkish membership - has vowed to hold
    a referendum on Turkey's bid if negotiations begin.

    "Evidently there are cold-feet," said Fadi Hakura, a Turkey
    specialist at London's Chatham House think-tank. But he warned that
    by rejecting Turkey, the EU "would lose all influence over the
    Turkish reforms that Turkey is undergoing at the present."
Working...
X