Tensions increase between Turkey, EU
Talks to start Oct. 3, but Turkey says it will accept no new conditions for membership.
European Union foreign ministers said Friday that they would go ahead with the Oct. 3 start date to
begin discussing Turkey's application to join the EU. Tensions between Turkey and the 25-member group had threatened to derail Turkey's bid, especially after Turkey refused in July to officially recognize Cyprus
Deutsche Welle reports that Turkey is warning that it will withdraw its bid and that "
foot-dragging by the European Union" will not be tolerated.
"Should they propose anything short of full membership or any new conditions, we will walk away," [Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah G���l] said. "And this time it will be for good."
The Economist reports that the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was
very upset [subscription required] that the EU might add new conditions. 'If they provoke him any further he may well explode,' an aide to Erdogan told the weekly.
Reuters reports that the situation was greatly complicated Thursday when Turkey said it would not "open its ports and airports to ships and planes from EU member Cyprus,
in apparent breach of its EU customs pact."
The European Commission has repeatedly told Turkey it must allow free access to shipping and aircraft from Cyprus under the customs agreement, but EU leaders did not make that a condition for starting talks.
A spokesman for the British presidency of the 25-nation bloc said Turkey must not discriminate among EU members in the way it applies the customs union, which it agreed in July to extend to the new member states.
Cyprus has been split since 1974 when the Turkish military
occupied the northern third. The southern part of the island, which is controlled by pro-Greek Cypriots, was admitted into the EU last year. Turkey refuses to recognize this government, although EU legal experts have said this should not "
be an obstacle to starting EU talks in October."
Bloomberg News reports that France, which is
increasingly hostile to Turkey's bid to join the EU, "had questioned whether entry talks should begin with a nation that didn't recognize an existing member.
[French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin], facing a backlash against EU expansion after French voters rejected the EU's proposed constitution in May, kept the bloc on edge throughout August with a threat to sabotage the talks until relenting this week.
France doesn't want to trigger a 'European crisis' by blocking the talks, Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said yesterday. 'For us it's important that the EU say clearly it regrets this declaration [Turkey's refusal] and we wish in the current environment that it recognize all members. France is not isolated.'
In a commentary on the Greek English-language newspaper,
Kathermerini, Stavros Lygeros argues that the Turkish position
warrants a delay in membership talks.
EU governments needed nothing more than Ankara's provocative declaration of non-recognition to push Turkey against the wall. In any case, however, they must demand fulfillment of the existing condition, as Ankara has defied EU pressure to open its ports and airports to Cypriot ships and planes. That should be enough to postpone EU talks. But in a
BBC roundup of European media reports on the Turkish issue, Croatia's
Novi List expressed concern that any delay in Turkey's membership would affect other countries' EU applications. "Fears [of] Turkish membership are feeding xenophobia in France, Austria, the Netherlands and new EU entrants," it continues.
"Fears [of] Turkish membership are irrational and self-destructive," it argues, "since the criteria for EU membership that were set out in Copenhagen in 1993 and Madrid in 1994 remain the same and any changes would mean a step backwards for Europe".
"Prime Minister Ivo Sanader would do well to publicly express his support for the start of Turkish negotiations that would reduce the danger of halting enlargement - something that can also affect Croatia," it advises.
For its part, Cyprus remains optimistic, despite the Turkish position.
AFX News reports that Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iacovou said he is
still confident that talks with Turkey will begin next month as planned.
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