TROIKA AND ANKARA POUR OIL ON TROUBLED WATERS
European Report
October 18, 2006
Marking a pause in the escalation of tension over recent weeks, the
EU and Turkey sought to calm tempers at their ministerial meeting
on 16 October in Luxembourg, though they remain unable to settle
their fundamental differences. The EU troika, led by Finland’s
Foreign Minister and acting Council President Erkki Tuomioja, and
the Turkish delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul,
avoided any direct attacks while sticking to their positions.
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn welcomed Ankara’s open attitude at
the meeting, at which the future of accession negotiations was not on
the agenda but in everybody’s mind. A respite that contrasts with the
invective that has been plying between Europeans and Turks recently
over the slow pace of reforms in Turkey and the French initiative on
the recognition of the Armenian genocide. On the eve of the meeting,
one European source suggested that "the Turks are at present highly
irritated and very irritable".
No progress was made on sensitive dossiers poisoning Ankara’s accession
process, notably the issue of Cyprus and domestic reforms, which
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso had again described
on the eve of the meeting as too slow. The Ankara Protocol, which
Turkey has still failed to apply, in spite of demands from member
states, remains a key bone of contention. Gul reaffirmed his line
that the Cypriot issue should first be resolved by the island’s two
communities, emphasising the responsibility of Greek Cypriots for the
current deadlock. In this context, Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank
Walter Steinmeier refused to pledge to opening further chapters in
negotiations when Berlin takes up the EU Presidency for the first
half of 2007.
THE ARMENIAN QUESTION
Abdullah Gul again denounced the vote by France’s Assemblee Nationale
last week approving a law condemning denial of the Armenian genocide.
The minister insisted this dossier is not included among the Copenhagen
criteria, regretting that one of the EU’s founder members should be
undermining freedom of speech at the time when the member states are
applying pressure on his country to speed up reforms in this area. This
vote "has a negative impact on France’s image as a country where
it is possible to exchange different opinions," said the minister,
while emphasising that many European and indeed French personalities
have denounced the initiative. He urged France’s leaders to prevent
the bill, which has still to be approved by the Senate and endorsed
by the president of the Republic, from entering into force.
Minister Gul nevertheless declined on his part to commit to reforming
the controversial Article 301 of Turkey’s new penal code, which
permits the imprisonment of individuals for denigrating the state,
merely insisting that his country will not "repeat France’s errors"
regarding freedom of speech. "In Turkey today one is free to say
anything," said Gul. Though less restrictive than that contained in
the previous penal code,this article, nevertheless, remains a target
for the EU and human rights organisations like Amnesty International,
which fear it might be used by the authorities to stifle criticism of
the regime. Gul acknowledged that the new legislation has encountered
some implementation problems, but declined to commit to a modification
of the text. An inadequate approach, which is taking too long,
commented Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, again calling for the
amendment of the article.
This warning points to a possible further escalation of tensions with
Ankara, with the Commission’s eagerly-awaited report evaluating
Turkey’s progress towards EU accession due to be published on
8 November.