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Caucaz.com, Georgia
Oct 10 2005
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian <[email protected]>
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A stormy opening to the accession negotiations between Ankara and
Brussels
Article published in 09/10/2005 Issue
By François GREMY in Poznan
Translated by Victoria BRYAN
Right up until the last minute, Austria vehemently opposed making a
possible accession of Turkey to the European Union part of the talks
between Brussels and Ankara. And this is at the risk of calling the
negotiations themselves into question and plunging the EU into a new
crisis following the debacle over the non-ratification of the
European Constitution.
Under the chairmanship of Jack Straw, the head of the UK diplomatic
team, the 25 EU foreign ministers came together on Sunday night to
try and wrest a compromise from Austria. The meeting, held in
Luxembourg, lasted until 4.55pm.
It would take every ounce of European diplomacy and nearly 20 hours
of negotiations to soften the Austrian authorities, who were strongly
backed up by unequivocal support from the population and an
opposition that shared their views. Vienna was in favour of an
alternative form of Turkish accession, that of a `privileged
partnership'.
In an officious fashion, Austria had closely linked Turkish candidacy
with that of Croatia, Zagreb having been pushed to the back burner in
March for failing to collaborate with the International Criminal
Court for the former Yugoslavia (ICC). Austria therefore demanded
that accession talks with Croatia be reopened immediately.
Austrian pressure proved to be very effective: the EU working group
on Croatia studied its candidacy on Monday morning in the presence of
the Carla Del Ponte, the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC. She confirmed
that Croatia had cooperated in the most concrete way possible in
recent weeks. This confirmation meant that the opening of accession
negotiations with Zagreb could be announced that very evening.
Austria, victorious, joined the side of the remaining 24 member
states on Turkey.
And even if the Turkish authorities, in a final act of pride, only
accepted the agreement of the 25 late in the evening, accession
negotiations were finally opened on the morning of Tuesday 4 October,
sealing an historic agreement for the EU.
Turkey vexed
All the same, in response to the Austrian attitude and also to the
other member states that remained ambivalent concerning Turkey's
accession, the Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, had announced to
the parliament in Ankara on Saturday that Turkey had engaged in an
`irreversible' dynamic in the accession to becoming a full EU member
state. This before adding that `The Turkish nation will not accept
discrimination'.
As for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister who has made EU
integration one of his main policy aims, he said, in a more measured
manner, that `Turkey will continue its projects of reform no matter
the outcome of the meeting on Sunday evening and it believes that the
EU will make the best decision.' Like an experienced acrobat, the
prime minister has regularly attempted to meet the demands of
Brussels, whilst reassuring a public whose enthusiasm for Europe has
been somewhat dampened in recent months. Hesitation from Europe has
irritated those most in favour of accession. According to recent
polls carried out by Turkish newspapers, the proportion of Turkish
people in favour of accession is now around 47%, compared with more
than 68% at the start of the year.
The decision to open negotiations on the basis of a possible
accession for Turkey is therefore a victory for the prime minister,
who has seen his position confirmed on the national political scene.
This agreement is also a good omen for calming the fervour of the
Turkish nationalist parties who were trying to play on a Turkish
population that had felt abused by the attitude of the Europeans.
These parties had accused Recep Erdogan of selling off the ideals of
the country with little thought in order to bow down to the demands
of Brussels. In particular, conservatives accused the head of the
government of declaring himself in favour of restarting talks and of
a political solution to the Kurdish question.
But if the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to have given
ground on certain issues, it still has two issues to discuss in the
coming negotiations on which it is holding its ground - the
recognition of the Armenian genocide, an issue which is being closely
watched by Paris, and the recognition of Cyprus, a full member of the
EU.
The hypocrisy of the Europeans
Even if Turkey should respond positively to the expectations of the
EU, the irritation of the Turkish authorities, like that of the
population, will not disappear so quickly. The modus operandi of
Turkey's accession has not yet been defined. Some states are in
favour of a de facto accession, following validation of the acquis
communautaire, whereas others, France in particular, would like to
see additional validation by means of referenda. Bearing in mind the
country's traditional coldness towards Europe and of the idea of the
`unknown Turk', there is no doubt that Ankara will have to wait for a
long time yet.
Whatever the outcome of these negotiations, politicians must now
clearly implement in their own countries the decisions taken in
Brussels or during European summits in order to make smooth advances
on the Turkish question. However, in exact contrast to this, the
vague proposals tabled by Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French minister
for foreign affairs, were aimed at reassuring the French population,
who are very wary of the issue, that the talks would not necessarily
lead to Turkey's accession, but that they would offer the country
entry, albeit heavily reduced, to the doors of Europe.
http://www.caucaz.com/home_eng/breve_contenu.php?id=193
Oct 10 2005
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian <[email protected]>
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 -- ListProcessor(tm) by CREN
A stormy opening to the accession negotiations between Ankara and
Brussels
Article published in 09/10/2005 Issue
By François GREMY in Poznan
Translated by Victoria BRYAN
Right up until the last minute, Austria vehemently opposed making a
possible accession of Turkey to the European Union part of the talks
between Brussels and Ankara. And this is at the risk of calling the
negotiations themselves into question and plunging the EU into a new
crisis following the debacle over the non-ratification of the
European Constitution.
Under the chairmanship of Jack Straw, the head of the UK diplomatic
team, the 25 EU foreign ministers came together on Sunday night to
try and wrest a compromise from Austria. The meeting, held in
Luxembourg, lasted until 4.55pm.
It would take every ounce of European diplomacy and nearly 20 hours
of negotiations to soften the Austrian authorities, who were strongly
backed up by unequivocal support from the population and an
opposition that shared their views. Vienna was in favour of an
alternative form of Turkish accession, that of a `privileged
partnership'.
In an officious fashion, Austria had closely linked Turkish candidacy
with that of Croatia, Zagreb having been pushed to the back burner in
March for failing to collaborate with the International Criminal
Court for the former Yugoslavia (ICC). Austria therefore demanded
that accession talks with Croatia be reopened immediately.
Austrian pressure proved to be very effective: the EU working group
on Croatia studied its candidacy on Monday morning in the presence of
the Carla Del Ponte, the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC. She confirmed
that Croatia had cooperated in the most concrete way possible in
recent weeks. This confirmation meant that the opening of accession
negotiations with Zagreb could be announced that very evening.
Austria, victorious, joined the side of the remaining 24 member
states on Turkey.
And even if the Turkish authorities, in a final act of pride, only
accepted the agreement of the 25 late in the evening, accession
negotiations were finally opened on the morning of Tuesday 4 October,
sealing an historic agreement for the EU.
Turkey vexed
All the same, in response to the Austrian attitude and also to the
other member states that remained ambivalent concerning Turkey's
accession, the Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, had announced to
the parliament in Ankara on Saturday that Turkey had engaged in an
`irreversible' dynamic in the accession to becoming a full EU member
state. This before adding that `The Turkish nation will not accept
discrimination'.
As for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister who has made EU
integration one of his main policy aims, he said, in a more measured
manner, that `Turkey will continue its projects of reform no matter
the outcome of the meeting on Sunday evening and it believes that the
EU will make the best decision.' Like an experienced acrobat, the
prime minister has regularly attempted to meet the demands of
Brussels, whilst reassuring a public whose enthusiasm for Europe has
been somewhat dampened in recent months. Hesitation from Europe has
irritated those most in favour of accession. According to recent
polls carried out by Turkish newspapers, the proportion of Turkish
people in favour of accession is now around 47%, compared with more
than 68% at the start of the year.
The decision to open negotiations on the basis of a possible
accession for Turkey is therefore a victory for the prime minister,
who has seen his position confirmed on the national political scene.
This agreement is also a good omen for calming the fervour of the
Turkish nationalist parties who were trying to play on a Turkish
population that had felt abused by the attitude of the Europeans.
These parties had accused Recep Erdogan of selling off the ideals of
the country with little thought in order to bow down to the demands
of Brussels. In particular, conservatives accused the head of the
government of declaring himself in favour of restarting talks and of
a political solution to the Kurdish question.
But if the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to have given
ground on certain issues, it still has two issues to discuss in the
coming negotiations on which it is holding its ground - the
recognition of the Armenian genocide, an issue which is being closely
watched by Paris, and the recognition of Cyprus, a full member of the
EU.
The hypocrisy of the Europeans
Even if Turkey should respond positively to the expectations of the
EU, the irritation of the Turkish authorities, like that of the
population, will not disappear so quickly. The modus operandi of
Turkey's accession has not yet been defined. Some states are in
favour of a de facto accession, following validation of the acquis
communautaire, whereas others, France in particular, would like to
see additional validation by means of referenda. Bearing in mind the
country's traditional coldness towards Europe and of the idea of the
`unknown Turk', there is no doubt that Ankara will have to wait for a
long time yet.
Whatever the outcome of these negotiations, politicians must now
clearly implement in their own countries the decisions taken in
Brussels or during European summits in order to make smooth advances
on the Turkish question. However, in exact contrast to this, the
vague proposals tabled by Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French minister
for foreign affairs, were aimed at reassuring the French population,
who are very wary of the issue, that the talks would not necessarily
lead to Turkey's accession, but that they would offer the country
entry, albeit heavily reduced, to the doors of Europe.
http://www.caucaz.com/home_eng/breve_contenu.php?id=193