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Knocking On Heaven's Door

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  • Knocking On Heaven's Door

    KNOCKING ON HEAVEN'S DOOR
    Howard Hudson

    European Parliament
    Tiscali, Europe
    Oct 3 2005

    Embrace Turkey or "end up a Christian club"

    EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Luxembourg last night failed to
    bury the hatchet ahead of accession talks with Turkey. Vienna is
    insisting Turkey be offered the next best thing to full membership;
    Ankhara says it will walk away if full accession is not on the table.

    The impasse is clear and deep: the negotiating mandate has to be
    agreed by all 25 member states before entry talks can begin. And
    with polls saying 70% of Austrians are against Turkey's membership,
    Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel says he wants the EU to admit popular
    concerns. And offer "privileged partnership" instead.

    After getting the go-ahead to begin talks nine months ago, there's now
    a palpable sense of frustration and increasing feelings of betrayal on
    the streets of Turkey. Sensing this, and echoing earlier declarations
    made by Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, UK Foreign Minister Jack
    Straw warned of a "theological-political divide, which could open up
    even further down the boundary between so-called Christian-heritage
    states and those of Islamic heritage".

    Seeking some kind of diplomatic manna, Mr Straw added: "I hope and
    pray that we may be able to reach an agreement".

    In a separate development, the European Parliament has postponed
    voting to extend Turkey's association agreement to the 10 new member
    states. MEPs feared that Ankhara's declaration that the protocol
    does not mean any form of recognition of Cyprus would form part of
    the ratification process in the Turkish parliament and thus gain
    legal force.

    However, Parliament did agree: "the Commission and the Council take
    the view that Turkey has formally fulfilled the last conditions for
    starting the accession negotiations on 3 October 2005".

    During the negotiations, which are open-ended and will not
    automatically lead to Turkish EU membership, Turkey should be kept
    under permanent scrutiny and pressure to ensure that it maintains
    "the pace of the necessary reforms". Parliament also said it considered
    Turkish recognition of "the Armenian genocide ... to be a prerequisite
    for accession".

    On other issues, MEPs voiced their concern about the criminal
    proceedings against Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, about article 305
    of the penal code which criminalizes "acts against the fundamental
    national interest", about the restrictions on foreign funding for
    associations, and about the "Law on Foundations" concerning religious
    communities.

    Parliament wants each negotiation session at ministerial level to be
    preceded by an assessment of the fulfilment of the political criteria,
    both in theory and in practice, "thus exerting permanent pressure
    on the Turkish authorities to maintain the pace of the necessary
    reforms". Finally, Parliament stressed that the EU's capacity to
    absorb Turkey remains an important consideration, and needs to be
    monitored by the Commission during negotiations.

    Accession talks with the Turkish delegation are due to begin at 3pm
    GMT. Asked how great the fallout would be if the situation remained
    deadlocked, Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot said: "It would
    certainly be a bad day. But we've had similar crises before. We've
    found solutions before and we'll find one for Turkey."

    http://europe.tiscali.co.uk/index.jsp?section=Current%20Affairs&level=prev iew&content=408028

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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