Mavi Boncuk |
October 3, 2004
Turkey Insists on Equal Terms in European Union
By SUSAN SACHS
ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 2 - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has staked his political reputation on leading Turkey into the European Union, said Saturday that Turkey would not accept any affiliation with the union that falls short of full membership.
In a wide-ranging interview at his official residence here, Mr. Erdogan rejected as "ugly" the suggestion that Turkey be offered a special partnership or held to a different standard for European Union membership than other countries.
Some political groups in Germany and France have recently made such proposals as alternatives to accepting a populous and comparatively poor Muslim nation into the 25-member union.
"No member country or candidate country has been offered such a thing or had preconditions placed on their negotiations," Mr. Erdogan said. "It's just in the case of Turkey that these ideas come forward? No, that would be ugly."
Mr. Erdogan gave a preview of the arguments he will make over the next two months as European Union leaders prepare for a December summit meeting that will determine whether Turkey begins formal accession talks.
Under his 22-month-old government, Turkey has won praise from foreign human rights groups and its internal skeptics for revising hundreds of its laws and amending its Constitution to reflect democratic values.
To disregard those reforms and deny Turkey an opportunity to join the European Union, Mr. Erdogan said, would signal that a clash between the Islamic world and the West was inevitable.
"We consider the European Union a community of values, not a Christian club," he said. "We consider the E.U. as an address where civilizations harmonize."
The first test of Turkey's aspirations is expected Wednesday, when European commissioners will decide whether to recommend starting membership negotiations. They are set to issue a voluminous report on human rights, democratization and economic factors in Turkey.
The final decision, however, will rest with European Union leaders, who have their own political constituencies to consider.
Public misgivings in many countries, particularly France, have become evident over the past few weeks even though Turkey has been a member of European institutions for decades and an official candidate to join the European Union for five years.
Turks have watched from the sidelines as Eastern European countries of the former Communist Soviet bloc were welcomed as new members. Earlier this year Cyprus also joined the union and could provide further opposition to Turkey's aspirations.
The two countries have not had diplomatic relations since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded Cyprus after a Greek Cypriot effort to merge with Greece, and the island was divided between rival Green Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot administrations.
Some diplomats here have suggested that Turkey voluntarily withdraw some of its troops as a gesture to the Greek Cypriot government, which remains implacably hostile to Turkey and could act as a spoiler at the European Union summit meeting.
But Mr. Erdogan dismissed the idea. "Turkey," he said, "has made all the gestures it was supposed to make."
Mr. Erdogan is scheduled to address the European Parliament next week and to speak to civic and business groups in France later in the month, as part of an intensification of Turkish efforts to promote its membership.
While he is regarded as a skilled and self-confident politician at home, however, Mr. Erdogan has slipped up recently on the European stage.
Two weeks ago, he abruptly withdrew a package of legal reforms from the Parliament to consider adding a law to criminalize adultery.
Mr. Erdogan's action drew sharp criticism from European commissioners and prompted public speculation that Mr. Erdogan intended to push a religious agenda in Turkey.
He eventually backed down and pushed through the reforms without the adultery provision, but only after commentators in Turkey and outside raised questions about his political judgment and sophistication.
Mr. Erdogan, while not rejecting that criticism, suggested that he was blindsided by the critics.
"I am the prime minister of a country," he said. "I follow the written agreements in front of me. Whatever exists in these written agreements, I struggle to fulfill their requirements."
The legal reforms that the European Union required of Turkey, he added, were fulfilled.
"Now, we have to realize their implementation, which we will," Mr. Erdogan said. "Apart from those, if a set of moral criteria is developed, and submitted to me in writing, I would make my comments on it as well. So, if there is nothing in writing, how am I supposed to know them?"
October 3, 2004
Turkey Insists on Equal Terms in European Union
By SUSAN SACHS
ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 2 - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has staked his political reputation on leading Turkey into the European Union, said Saturday that Turkey would not accept any affiliation with the union that falls short of full membership.
In a wide-ranging interview at his official residence here, Mr. Erdogan rejected as "ugly" the suggestion that Turkey be offered a special partnership or held to a different standard for European Union membership than other countries.
Some political groups in Germany and France have recently made such proposals as alternatives to accepting a populous and comparatively poor Muslim nation into the 25-member union.
"No member country or candidate country has been offered such a thing or had preconditions placed on their negotiations," Mr. Erdogan said. "It's just in the case of Turkey that these ideas come forward? No, that would be ugly."
Mr. Erdogan gave a preview of the arguments he will make over the next two months as European Union leaders prepare for a December summit meeting that will determine whether Turkey begins formal accession talks.
Under his 22-month-old government, Turkey has won praise from foreign human rights groups and its internal skeptics for revising hundreds of its laws and amending its Constitution to reflect democratic values.
To disregard those reforms and deny Turkey an opportunity to join the European Union, Mr. Erdogan said, would signal that a clash between the Islamic world and the West was inevitable.
"We consider the European Union a community of values, not a Christian club," he said. "We consider the E.U. as an address where civilizations harmonize."
The first test of Turkey's aspirations is expected Wednesday, when European commissioners will decide whether to recommend starting membership negotiations. They are set to issue a voluminous report on human rights, democratization and economic factors in Turkey.
The final decision, however, will rest with European Union leaders, who have their own political constituencies to consider.
Public misgivings in many countries, particularly France, have become evident over the past few weeks even though Turkey has been a member of European institutions for decades and an official candidate to join the European Union for five years.
Turks have watched from the sidelines as Eastern European countries of the former Communist Soviet bloc were welcomed as new members. Earlier this year Cyprus also joined the union and could provide further opposition to Turkey's aspirations.
The two countries have not had diplomatic relations since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded Cyprus after a Greek Cypriot effort to merge with Greece, and the island was divided between rival Green Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot administrations.
Some diplomats here have suggested that Turkey voluntarily withdraw some of its troops as a gesture to the Greek Cypriot government, which remains implacably hostile to Turkey and could act as a spoiler at the European Union summit meeting.
But Mr. Erdogan dismissed the idea. "Turkey," he said, "has made all the gestures it was supposed to make."
Mr. Erdogan is scheduled to address the European Parliament next week and to speak to civic and business groups in France later in the month, as part of an intensification of Turkish efforts to promote its membership.
While he is regarded as a skilled and self-confident politician at home, however, Mr. Erdogan has slipped up recently on the European stage.
Two weeks ago, he abruptly withdrew a package of legal reforms from the Parliament to consider adding a law to criminalize adultery.
Mr. Erdogan's action drew sharp criticism from European commissioners and prompted public speculation that Mr. Erdogan intended to push a religious agenda in Turkey.
He eventually backed down and pushed through the reforms without the adultery provision, but only after commentators in Turkey and outside raised questions about his political judgment and sophistication.
Mr. Erdogan, while not rejecting that criticism, suggested that he was blindsided by the critics.
"I am the prime minister of a country," he said. "I follow the written agreements in front of me. Whatever exists in these written agreements, I struggle to fulfill their requirements."
The legal reforms that the European Union required of Turkey, he added, were fulfilled.
"Now, we have to realize their implementation, which we will," Mr. Erdogan said. "Apart from those, if a set of moral criteria is developed, and submitted to me in writing, I would make my comments on it as well. So, if there is nothing in writing, how am I supposed to know them?"