Turkish Living Forums - Turkey EU Dreams.... Doubts Raised v Hopes Mounting....

22nd September 2005, 13:30	#21
merlin Non Active Member	EU-Turkey deal is done! Nicosia and Athens pleased with requirements Ankara will have to meet After weeks of intense negotiations, Nicosia yesterday tentatively put its signature to the statement which paves the way for Turkey to begin membership talks with the EU next month but also forces Ankara to recognize Cyprus before it eventually joins the Union. After some last-minute wavering, both Nicosia and Athens appear to have achieved the goals they steadfastly sought during negotiations in Brussels last month. "Turkey has already been made aware that the Republic of Cyprus will play an important and substantive role in its [Turkey's] negotiations," said Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iacovou. "And that will help any process that is chosen to resolve the Cyprus problem." Yesterday's meeting of the Council of Permanent Representatives - the main forum for discussion of the statement - put the finishing touches to a document that has been the subject of scrutiny since June. "It was a complex process and we negotiated over each word [of the statement]," said Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos. Ankara's decision then to extend its customs union with the 10 newest members of the EU but to also issue a statement in which it expressly stated that this did not imply recognition of Cyprus rocked the EU's boat and led to doubt among the 25 member states about Turkey's whole accession process. The counter-declaration makes it clear that Turkey's statement is unilateral and has no legal effect. It also informs Ankara that the EU expects «full non-discriminatory» implementation of the customs protocol, meaning that Turkey has to open its harbors and airports to Cypriot ships and airplanes. This process will be monitored by the EU and evaluated next year and any problems could impact on the progress of Ankara's membership talks, which are due to start on October 3. Equally, Turkey is reminded that "recognition of all member states is a necessary component of the accession process," implying that Ankara has to recognize Nicosia before it actually becomes a member of the EU. These were all points that Nicosia and Athens had insisted on and were very satisfied to see included. "I spoke about five or six aims. These aims have been achieved," said Koumoutsakos.

22nd September 2005, 13:33

#22

merlin

Non Active Member

Re: Turkey EU Dreams.... Doubts Raised v Hopes Mounting....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Navan

Do you think Turkey will recognise Greece now that it's been more or less told it has to before even entering talks?

Its been done Anna!

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28th September 2005, 15:51	#23
merlin Non Active Member	European Parliament Postpones Turkey Vote.... Guardian UK STRASBOURG, France (AP) - The European Parliament postponed a vote to ratify Turkey's customs union with the European Union on Wednesday, citing frustration over Ankara's continued refusal to recognize Cyprus. In another step certain to anger the Turkish government days ahead of scheduled EU membership talks, lawmakers called on Ankara to recognize the 1915-23 killings of Armenians as genocide. The lawmakers issued a nonbinding resolution saying recognition of the killings as genocide should be a prerequisite for Turkey to join the EU. Ankara vehemently denies that genocide was carried out on Armenians as the Ottoman Empire collapsed, saying Armenians who rose in rebellion and sided with Russian invaders were killed along with Turks in intercommunal fighting. The EU Parliament voted 311-285, with 65 abstentions, to postpone the customs union ratification ballot. The delay will have no effect on the starting date on negotiations for Turkey's accession to the EU, scheduled for Oct. 3. The assembly already postponed a vote earlier this month when its foreign affairs committee said the customs union would not work because Turkey still would not allow Cyprus to use its ports or airports. In July, Turkey signed an agreement to widen its customs union with the EU to include Cyprus and nine other new EU members. But the government also said its signature did not amount to recognition of the Cypriot government. EU governments last week warned that failure to recognize Cyprus could paralyze Turkey's EU entry talks. The customs union agreement with all 25 EU member states is a key condition for Turkey's bid to join the bloc. "The Turkish government has accepted the customs union protocol but at the same time has refused to recognize Cyprus. It's logically and politically unacceptable,'' European People's Party chairman Hans-Gert Poettering said before asking the assembly to postpone the vote. Cyprus has been divided since a 1974 abortive coup by supporters of union with Greece prompted an invasion by Turkish troops. Turkey still occupies the north of the island in support of a breakaway Turkish-Cypriot government. Ankara does not recognize the Greek-Cypriot government in the south.

1st October 2005, 08:57	#24
merlin Non Active Member	Chaos ahead of EU-Turkey membership talks underscore hesitations.... 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 is all worth the effort. As chaos swirls over last-minute obstacles 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.

1st October 2005, 12:04	#25
shirleyanntr Senior Member	Re: Turkey EU Dreams.... Doubts Raised v Hopes Mounting.... ive just posted the Telegraphs editorial in another thread.(im always in the wrong place!) if i was in the turkish governments shoes i would say ''forget it''. there comes a time when the pride of this nation will surely say enough is enough. i think that turkey has a brilliant future ahead..probably after my days... but i hope it doesnt go any more cap-in-hand to the EU

1st November 2005, 05:11	#26
merlin Non Active Member	Brussels to give Turkey torture deadline.... Financial Times The European Commission will give Turkey a two-year deadline to eradicate torture, establish freedom of religion and assert civilian control over the military if it is to succeed at attaining European Union membership in about 10 years. In a sign of how much Turkey will have to change if it is to join the EU, the Commission this month will set Ankara a daunting checklist of almost 150 short-term tasks. The document, a draft of which has been seen by the Financial Times, indicates membership talks are likely to be tougher than expected over the next two years, but is meant to ensure that Turkish reform eases EU voters’ concerns over its potential membership. Turkish membership is unpopular among many European electorates. Polls this year found that 80 per cent of Austrians opposed Turkey’s entry, while only 11 per cent of French voters supported it. Among short-term priorities, “expected to be accomplished within one to two years”, the draft document calls for Turkey to “ensure implementation . . . of the ‘zero tolerance’ policy against torture” and to “adopt a law comprehensively addressing all the difficulties faced by non- Muslim religious minorities and communities”. It adds that in the same time-span the country must “establish full parliamentary oversight of military and defence policy”, “abolish any remaining competence of military courts to try civilians” and “ensure the independence of the judiciary”. The proposal, on the “principles, priorities and conditions” of integrating Turkey with the EU, fills in the gaps left by last month’s decision to begin membership talks with Ankara. The negotiations themselves are not likely to begin until next year and the Commission’s proposals emphasise the need for Turkey to focus on implementation after a series of legislative changes in 2003 to 2004. Officials in Ankara say they are aware of the scale of the task ahead but there is little sign the government is ready to launch a new set of radical reforms to match those it has already introduced. Implementation of recent reforms also is likely to cause friction with the entrenched bureaucracy and within the criminal justice system. Olli Rehn, the EU’s enlargement commissioner, is also anxiously awaiting the trial in December of Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish author charged with “denigrating the state” for comments about the deaths of Kurds and Armenians. If Mr Pamuk is convicted, many officials fear the biggest crisis yet in Turkey’s membership bid. In a nod towards the other looming problem in the talks, the Commission paper calls for Turkey to move towards “normalisation of bilateral relations” with Cyprus in the short term. While Cyprus can block the membership negotiations at almost any time, at present Turkey neither recognises the country’s government nor allows Cypriot ships to dock at its ports – chiefly because Ankara wants to press Cyprus to agree to a settlement for the divided island.