Turkish Press
May 3 2004
A Date For Negotiations
BYEGM: 5/3/2004
BY COSKUN KIRCA
MILLIYET- Will the European Union give Turkey an exact date at the end
of this year for starting membership negotiations? Firstly, getting a
date is no guarantee that these negotiations will actually end in
membership, though the 1963 Ankara Agreement is still in effect! Under
this agreement, after Turkey’s period of preparation and transition,
the period of the customs union would be passed and this goal thereby
achieved. This way Turkey was able to largely comply with the common
trade policies. None of the countries which became EU members last
weekend could have gone so far forward in their relations with the EU.
Actually the EU countries accepted Turkey’s membership at that time.
For this reason, the acceptance of Ankara’s candidacy at the 1999
Helsinki summit was a declaration. So a date for membership
negotiations would be nothing new.
After the referendums on Cyprus, Turkey thought that both itself and
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) should be rewarded by it
getting a date for membership. The Turkish nation is also fixed on this
expectation. If the EU doesn’t give us a date at the end of the year,
the Turkish nation will react very harshly. At this point, the EU has
two alternatives. One is to accept us as a member in good faith, and
the other is to keep Ankara in suspense for a long period of time, all
the while pushing for great concessions required for membership.
However, both of these alternatives require the EU to give Ankara a
date. I guess the EU countries can see this obligation.
Turkey should make clear to the EU countries which concessions we could
never accept, to prevent the impression that we’ve left our future in
the EU’s hands by waiting at its threshold. One firm principle is that
we can neither give up nor violate the pillars of our indivisible
state. Secondly, we will neither accept the accusations of Armenian
`genocide,’ nor apologize to them, nor give them land or compensation.
Thirdly, they shouldn’t request from us anything that would violate our
principle of secularism.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND
INFORMATION