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Turkey-EU: Bloc Can Become "Global Player" Or Remain A "Christian Cl

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  • Turkey-EU: Bloc Can Become "Global Player" Or Remain A "Christian Cl

    TURKEY-EU: BLOC CAN BECOME 'GLOBAL PLAYER' OR REMAIN A 'CHRISTIAN CLUB'

    AKI, Italy
    Oct 3 2005

    Ankara, 2 Oct. (AKI) - As the scheduled start on Monday of Turkey's
    entry talks with the European Union looked threatened by objections
    from some of the bloc's members, the Turkish premier urged the EU not
    to remain a "Christian club". "Europe can either decide to become
    a global actor or it can fence itself off as a Christian club,"
    Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said on Sunday during a visit
    to Turkey's eastern Anatolia region.

    On Monday, an EU emergency meeting in Luxembourg went into a second
    day, as Austria clung to a demand that the 25-nation bloc offer Turkey
    a "privileged partnership"' as an alternative to full membership in
    talks due to start at 5 pm local time.

    British foreign secretary Jack Straw, told journalists after bilateral
    meetings with Austrian foreign minister, Urusla Plassnik, as well
    as with the foreign ministers of Greece and Cyprus - who also have
    deep reservations over the Turkish bid - that negotiations were
    "hard and diffucult."

    Straw added that he "could not be certain " that an agreement could
    be reached.

    In an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica published on Monday,
    Erdogan reiterated the Turkish government's assertion that it has
    complied with all the preconditions set by Brussels for the start of
    the talks, and that he was confident that they would go ahead.

    "I believe that those who promised to begin this journey will keep
    their word," he said, but warned, that "if today they place before
    us different conditions, then Turkey will not swallow such a ruse,
    and it will continue along its own path."

    Erdogan dismissed one of the main sticking points to the Turkish bid:
    Ankara's refusal to recognise EU member Cyprus, which was recently
    described as an "act of provocation" by the Cypriot foreign minister,
    George Iacovu.

    "I would like to say only this: Remember 24 April 2004, the day of
    the United Nations referendum on Cyprus' re-unification, accepted by
    the Turkish Cypriots but which failed because of a boycott by Greek
    Cypriots. One week later Greek Cyprus became a EU member with all of
    its border problems... whoever fails to resolve these problmes cannot
    claim to represent the whole island [of Cyprus] but can only present
    itself as southern Cyprus," Erdogan said.

    Another stumbling block to Turkey's accession is the country's refusal
    to allow public debate on the so-called "Armenian Genocide," of 1915
    which according to many historians claimed the lives of some 1.5
    million Armenians. Erdogan has defended renowned Turkish author,Orhan
    Pamuk, who is to stand trial for writing about the massacre in a recent
    newspaper article, but the Turkish premier argues his hands are tied.

    "The media has to understand that this case [Pamuk's] does not involve
    the country's executive and legislative powers, but the judiciary. It's
    up to the magistrates to evaluate the facts and we have to respect
    their decisions," Erdogan told La Repubblica.

    Turkey would become the EU's first Muslim member, with a population
    of 72 million that would rank it as the EU's second largest country
    after Germany. It would also be the bloc's poorest country, with
    gross domestic product per person at a quarter of the EU average.

    Resistance to Turkish entry rose after French and Dutch voters four
    months ago rejected the EU constitution, partly out of concern that
    the future admission of Turkey would cost jobs and growth in western
    Europe.

    Only 35 percent of EU citizens favour letting Turkey in, according
    to an EU-sponsored poll in September.
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