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EU, TURKEY ON COLLISION COURSE
Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran
Nov 28 2006
Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said that his efforts to break
the impasse between Turkey and the Greek Cypriots on the Cyprus issue
were unsuccessful.
He had held separate meetings with the Turkish and Cypriot foreign
ministers - Abdullah Gul and George Lillikas - in Finland a last-
ditch effort to break the deadlock.
"Business as usual cannot continue," he said after the talks collapsed.
The European Union has been calling on Turkey to open up its ports
and airports to Greek Cypriot vessels.
Analysts opine that EU leaders meeting in mid-December might decide
to slow down negotiations with Turkey only after a year talks were
launched.
"Negotiations will not be stopped or frozen, they will continue more
slowly," said EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn.
The Turkish government has refused to give in to the EU's demand
arguing that first Brussels should end the economic isolation of the
Turkish Cypriots in the north of the divided island.
But the Greek Cypriot part which is an EU member since 2004 rejects
direct trade with the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
(TRNC), which is recognised only by Turkey.
Cyprus is only one in a string of issues ranging from minorities to
historical deeds that the EU uses as hurdles to bloc Turkey's path
to membership.
If its not the "Armenian genocide", then it is the Kurdish issue
or the religious minorities and of course there is always the human
rights situation in the Muslim candidate country which Brussels can
use to whip Ankara.
France was never questioned over its colonial atrocities in North
Africa nor the UK was asked to resolve the Northern Ireland problem
to join the European bloc.
But for Europeans Turkey must be kept in a perpetual state of
inferiority complex and guilt.
A former European Commissioner, Frits Bolkenstein, in a recent
newspaper article suggests that Turkey must be kept out of the EU
and should act as a buffer protecting Europe from Syria, Iran and Iraq.
As the opposition to Turkey's membership grows in Europe, Turkish
enthusiasm to join the European bloc is also running thin as recent
opinion polls suggest.
Actually both Ankara and Brussels are in a big fix.
European leaders fear that a fatal blow to Turkey's EU dream could
change the country's track towards Islam and the Muslim world.
Islamophobia which is spreading in Europe as a plague explains why
over 400 million Christians fear 70 million Muslim Turks.
On their part, Turkish leaders have presented prospects of EU
membership to the Turkish public as a panacea to all the country's
woes and problems.
Hence this paradox will dominate EU-Turkish relations for some time
to come.
Brussels will continue throwing the membership bait to keep Turkey
on the hook, but for how long will the Turkish public opinion be
hoodwinked only time will say.
Austria the most sceptical EU country of Ankara's entry aspirations
has called for a pause in accession talks.
Is it not time for Turkey also to pause and re-think its European
orientation?
Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran
Nov 28 2006
Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said that his efforts to break
the impasse between Turkey and the Greek Cypriots on the Cyprus issue
were unsuccessful.
He had held separate meetings with the Turkish and Cypriot foreign
ministers - Abdullah Gul and George Lillikas - in Finland a last-
ditch effort to break the deadlock.
"Business as usual cannot continue," he said after the talks collapsed.
The European Union has been calling on Turkey to open up its ports
and airports to Greek Cypriot vessels.
Analysts opine that EU leaders meeting in mid-December might decide
to slow down negotiations with Turkey only after a year talks were
launched.
"Negotiations will not be stopped or frozen, they will continue more
slowly," said EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn.
The Turkish government has refused to give in to the EU's demand
arguing that first Brussels should end the economic isolation of the
Turkish Cypriots in the north of the divided island.
But the Greek Cypriot part which is an EU member since 2004 rejects
direct trade with the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
(TRNC), which is recognised only by Turkey.
Cyprus is only one in a string of issues ranging from minorities to
historical deeds that the EU uses as hurdles to bloc Turkey's path
to membership.
If its not the "Armenian genocide", then it is the Kurdish issue
or the religious minorities and of course there is always the human
rights situation in the Muslim candidate country which Brussels can
use to whip Ankara.
France was never questioned over its colonial atrocities in North
Africa nor the UK was asked to resolve the Northern Ireland problem
to join the European bloc.
But for Europeans Turkey must be kept in a perpetual state of
inferiority complex and guilt.
A former European Commissioner, Frits Bolkenstein, in a recent
newspaper article suggests that Turkey must be kept out of the EU
and should act as a buffer protecting Europe from Syria, Iran and Iraq.
As the opposition to Turkey's membership grows in Europe, Turkish
enthusiasm to join the European bloc is also running thin as recent
opinion polls suggest.
Actually both Ankara and Brussels are in a big fix.
European leaders fear that a fatal blow to Turkey's EU dream could
change the country's track towards Islam and the Muslim world.
Islamophobia which is spreading in Europe as a plague explains why
over 400 million Christians fear 70 million Muslim Turks.
On their part, Turkish leaders have presented prospects of EU
membership to the Turkish public as a panacea to all the country's
woes and problems.
Hence this paradox will dominate EU-Turkish relations for some time
to come.
Brussels will continue throwing the membership bait to keep Turkey
on the hook, but for how long will the Turkish public opinion be
hoodwinked only time will say.
Austria the most sceptical EU country of Ankara's entry aspirations
has called for a pause in accession talks.
Is it not time for Turkey also to pause and re-think its European
orientation?