EU divided over whether it’s time to talk Turkey

Irish Independent
Dec 17, 2004

THE vote this week of the European Parliament in favour of starting
membership talks with Turkey should presage a decision by the EU
leaders today to start the whole process rolling.

One says “should” partly because one can never be quite certain in
Europe that its leaders will do what is required of them – witness the
extraordinary about-turns over the European constitution and the rows
over keeping to the rules of the economic stability pact. The major
players, including French President Chirac, with important caveats,
and German Chancellor Schroder and British Prime Minister Tony Blair,
more enthusiastically, have all said that they will give it the green
light. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is fully supporting the membership bid.

But there’s a lot of bad politics about the Turkish application at the
moment, especially in Austria, Germany, France and the Netherlands
where the right-wing anti-immigration parties are rearing their
head. Even Chirac has had to promise a referendum to let the French
people decide when negotiations finally come to fruition.

Such hesitations are understandable, but miss the urgency and
importance of the moment. To say no at this stage, or to fob Turkey off
with a “country membership” or something less than full conjunction
would be an act of religious prejudice and historic recidivism of
the worst and most parochial sort. Europe has an opportunity to reach
out to a whole new world of a bigger, wider and more diverse Europe.

All the objections and the last-minute hurdles being put forward
against Turkey – the demands that it admit to the Armenian genocide,
the imposition of additional rules on labour movement, the proposal
for a “privileged partnership” instead of membership – are little
more than masks for a much more fundamental fear and dislike, and
that is of Turkey as a Muslim state.

If anything, Europe should be wanting Turkey in precisely because it
is a liberal, modernising country of Muslims (officially it is still
a secular state, although it is now headed by an Islamic party).

In that sense Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minster, is quite
right to insist that Turkey will not accept second-best, special
requirements, lesser membership or anything other than the straight
road to membership that every other country has followed. Anything
less would be an insult, not least to all those in Turkey which have
pushed, harried and argued for the huge changes that have been needed
to get Turkey to this point of even beginning serious negotiations. Of
course Turkey has a long way to go. Anyone who knows Turkey also knows
how very far it is from properly integrating its Kurdish minority,
accepting even a minimum standard for its workers and instituting the
kind of law that would bring it into line with Western Europe. We
are not talking here of a neat homogenous country like Sweden, but
a largely Islamic nation developed through four centuries of empire
and then dramatically wrenched away from imperial habit to modern
national state by Ataturk after the First World War.

The benefit of that change is to produce a formally secular state
which, at least among the elite, feels its future looking westwards
and its place in Europe. The price has been a state that is fiercely
nationalistic, with an army at the centre of its constitution and an
attitude to its Kurdish minority and to human rights that has more
in common with Moscow than Brussels.

Far from that being a bar to full membership, however, it is the
very reason we should be insisting on it. Joining Europe brings
with it stringent obligations in a whole host of fields, from equal
opportunities to civil rights and financial disciplines. Lock Turkey
in those negotiations, and keep absolutely firm on their requirements,
and you help all those in Turkey wanting modernisation. Accept it as
something less than an equal European and you accept it as a basically
different country with lesser standards for its own people. Which is
why so many Kurds and even Armenians want the negotiations to go ahead.

Voting today for negotiations to start does not mean immediate
membership. Talks could last a decade and there is no reason why
the EU should compromise its own principles. But there is equally no
reason to make Turkey a special case in negative terms, forcing on
it special obligations which are not true of everyone.

Of course politicians have to take note of their domestic opinion. At
a time when a leading Dutch documentary director has been murdered in
the Netherlands, 191 have been killed in the Madrid bombing and the
police forces of almost every European country are issuing warnings
about the dangers of attacks from Islamic extremists, now is not a good
time to talk of Turkey’s potential contribution to multiculturalism
in the Union.

But politics has to be about the promotion of causes in inconvenient
times as well as propitious ones. The Muslim aspect to Turkey’s
membership is important, not only because to turn it down would
be to send such hostile messages to Muslims within Europe as well
as its neighbours outside. Yet in some ways one can exaggerate this
aspect. Turkey has its own history and ethnic background which make it
quite separate from the Arabs and Iranians around it, or the Pakistani,
North African and Bangladeshi Muslims populations within Europe.

More profoundly, Turkey is important because it represents a whole
new leap towards regional integration in Europe. It brings with it not
just an Islamic background but a military force in Nato, a reserve of
labour and interconnections that spread out to Central Asia and beyond.

This year’s enlargement of the Union from 15 to 25 members was meant
to be the end of the story for the time being. But everywhere round
Europe – in Ukraine, Georgia, Turkey and now Romania – the older order
is collapsing and new democratic governments are coming to power who
see in the EU both a path to the future and a means of consolidating
change. Belarus and even some Arab states around the Mediterranean
could well follow in the coming years.

It’s a development most European politicians have been slow to grasp
and fearful of embracing. The EU was desperately slow to respond
to Viktor Yuschenko’s call for EU partnership, and to the change
in government in Bucharest. Even though they know that existing
enlargement has changed forever the tight, inward-looking club of
Western Europe, the instinctive response of EU governments is to look
inwards and backwards. In the nervy and uncertain days before the fall
of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, Chancellor Kohl
liked to quote Otto Von Bismark’s statement about clutching the cloak
of history (God, as he called it) as He swept by. Kohl took the chance,
and he was no Bismark. Today’s European leaders are arguably even less
statesmen than Kohl. But history is passing by and over the coming
months in Central Europe, they have the chance to touch its cloak.

Adrian Hamilton

Georgian president addresses interior ministry staff

Imedi TV, Tbilisi
16 Dec 04

Mikheil Saakashvili has said that the new police and public order
ministry will be a well-funded and well equipped, European-style
agency. In an address to the staff of the merging State Security and
Interior ministries, broadcast by Georgian Imedi TV on 16 December,
Saakashvili said that the new agency, together with the Defence
Ministry, should discourage those who humiliated and trampled on
Georgia in Abkhazia in the beginning of 1990s. Saakashvili said that
the personnel quality in regional police units and the army was not
adequate and called on talented but unemployed people to join the
police force and the armed forces. The following is an excerpt from
report by Imedi TV; subheadings have been inserted editorially:

[Presenter] The Georgian president introduced minister-designate Vano
Merabishvili to the staff of the newly established police and public
security ministry [also described as police and public order ministry]
a short while ago.

Speaking at the new agency, [Mikheil] Saakashvili once again, for
a second time today, stressed the importance of strengthening the
state’s security and combat readiness. Georgia should be strong enough
to defend itself against foreign aggression.

As regards the police, reforms should speed up and, more importantly,
the public should realize that cooperation with law enforcers is the
main guarantor of their security.

Commenting on personnel issues in the merging State Security and
Interior ministries, the president said that professionals would not
be made redundant.

Speaking about the new minister, Saakashvili said that Merabishvili
lived up to expectations as state security minister and would surely
do well in the new job as well.

Restoration of territorial integrity political process

[Saakashvili, addressing staff, with Merabishvili and Defence
Minister-designate Irakli Okruashvili by his sides] I would like to
welcome you all on this very important day. Today we are not only
introducing the new minister to you but also announcing the setting
up of practically a new ministry.

For the second time since gaining independence [as heard] – this
time in a more serious fashion – we are transforming [an existing
agency] into a European-style body. The State Security Ministry
is being transformed into counter-intelligence and [foreign]
intelligence units. I want to stress that this will be a very
strong counter-intelligence unit. It will be much better funded,
equipped and trained. It will be a European-style body, operating
within the constitutional framework. The State Security Ministry’s
anti-crime department will be merged with the Interior Ministry’s
anti-crime department. Both agencies have traditionally had very good
professionals in this area.

After introducing Irakli [Okruashvili] as minister-designate at
the Defence Ministry yesterday, I spoke about the restoration of
territorial integrity. Some people interpreted my statement as an
order to Irakli Okruashvili and the Defence Ministry to restore
[Georgia’s] territorial integrity. I want to say categorically that
the strengthening of Georgia and the restoration of its territorial
integrity is not a military process and should not be done by the
Defence Ministry alone. The restoration of Georgia’s territorial
integrity is a political process.

Aggressors to be met by Okruashvili

Current events in the world, including the events that have taken
place in Ukraine and other countries and the events taking place
throughout the post-Soviet space, are significantly limiting the area
of application of imperialist and aggressive policies and increasing
opportunities for Georgia and the people of Georgia to resolve their
problems peacefully.

We do not intend to use any military force to settle domestic issues.
However, we will build a modern army so that those forces which
incited a conflict in Abkhazia at the time, taking advantage of a weak
Georgia, know full well that if there is another large-scale aggression
against Georgia they will be met by Okruashvili and much more modern,
European-style, combat-ready and civilized Georgian armed forces,
built according to NATO standards.

This will not, under any circumstances, apply to the people of Georgia.
Stability inside the country and the solving of political issues is
a task for the whole of society and the entire government to work
on. Every Georgian citizen, every ethnic Azerbaijani, Armenian, as
well people of other ethnic backgrounds, should know that we should
work day and night to at last put Georgia back on its feet.

Former junior officials should no longer fear arrest

We have done many things at the Interior Ministry from this point of
view. The public like the patrol force. Today over 70 per cent of
the people trust the police, compared to just 6 per cent one year
ago. People like the patrol force and so do we. Therefore, their
minimum wage will be 450 lari, not 400 lari as it has been this
year. Salaries will gradually increase in other departments as well
because those who work well will be paid better. [Passage omitted]

We often hear people saying that arrests should end, that revolution
should end. We do not want this any more, stop arresting people,
they say. By the way, I think that we should not go after former
petty officials because the bigwigs are already either wanted or
under investigation, or in jail, with courts considering their
cases. I do not think that we will go after every single former
customs department official who did something wrong three years ago,
every single former deputy head of a local administration, every former
petty official. This time has passed. We should fight corruption today,
among the present-day officials, in the present-day customs department,
in the present-day prosecutor’s office.

When we are told to end arrests, I say that theft and bribe-taking
should end first. If this happens, arrests will end as well. If there
is theft and corruption, there will be arrests, because Georgian
law, just as every proper state’s law, requires this. In short,
arbitrariness will never return to Georgia. Let every one of us
realize this.

We will set up a very effective agency here. We will equip it very
well. Its financing will improve significantly next year and will be
at an even higher level in the subsequent years. The most important
thing is that the people should feel that you work for them. People
should feel that they can trust you. [Passage omitted]

Public must cooperate with police

I want to say directly that because the human rights situation in
Tbilisi has improved significantly and because society does not
cooperate as much as it should with the police, street crime has
also increased sharply. We will never allow you to extract evidence
by beating up a person or planting narcotics on him. This will not
happen in Georgia again. However, I want to ask society to help us
in eradicating crime in their neighbourhoods, in their surroundings
and among their acquaintances. Please, cooperate with the police when
a crime has been committed so that it is solved. Please, cooperate
with our law-enforcement agency.

New ministries should deter aggressors

It is a fact that those forces who are fed up with us have stepped
up intelligence operations against Georgia. Articles about us are
published every day; programmes about us are broadcast every day. They
meddle in our internal affairs, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, every
day. These forces have stepped up their work inside Georgia. We have
to work against these forces in a different way. They should know
that this no longer is a Bantustan where everyone can be recruited,
everyone can be paid and bought. Everyone must know that cooperation
with the enemies of Georgia is treason and is severely punished under
the law. We will find these people.

Everyone should know that we are ready to cooperate with everyone in
the fight against terrorism, with the Russians, Americans, Europeans,
but we will not allow anyone to create disorder inside Georgia or
muddy the waters as in the 1990s. Did they not smack us on the head
in 1992 and 1993? Did they not humiliate and trample us into the mud
and kick us around? Did they not tell us that we were nobody, that
they could come back whenever they pleased and smack us on the head
again? You and us, the Defence Ministry and others, should behave so
that no scum of the earth, no international opportunist, no matter
how strong they are, how much money they have and how strong their
army is, ever again has a desire and capability to do this.

There is no such thing as a small nation. There are nations who have
a desire to fight for their independence, pride and dignity, and there
are nations who do not have this capability. We are building a nation
which has the capability to defend itself, to defend itself against
intelligence operations, defend itself against foreign aggression,
if it happens, – may God spare us from such a thing – defend itself
against domestic crime and defend itself against people who do not
care about the interests of society.

Trusts his ministers

I count on our police, I count on our counter-intelligence
[department], I count on our small but effective intelligence
department, which is also being set up, and I very much hope that
under the very competent new minister we will be able to improve
the situation.

You know that Okruashvili was a good prosecutor-general. He was a
much better interior minister. He will do even better as defence
minister. This man [Merabishvili] was a very good secretary of the
National Security Council, but he was a much better state security
minister. Now he will be an even better police and public order
minister, or [police and] public security [ministry], whatever
parliament decides to call it.

Until these ministries have merged, we will put them together at the
Interior Ministry. They will be formally merged later as parliament
has to approve constitutional changes. However, this does not stand
in our way and we can start work. It will be called the Ministry of
Internal Affairs for the next month, or a month and a half, whatever
it is. Vano Merabishvili will be the minister. In reality, however,
two ministries will be merged. Then parliament will change the name.

I want you to know one thing, that not a single professional will leave
the system. We will do everything to keep these professionals. We do
not have extra people. Whoever had to be sacked, has been sacked. Now
we need to train these people, facilitate their work, provide them
with equipment, bring in new people and find new people.

Patrol force, army need better personnel

For example, the quality of patrol force in the regions is low. I have
told Batoni [polite form or referring to a man] Irakli [Okruashvili]
to go to universities in Kutaisi, Zugdidi, Gori and speak to the
young people, explain the importance of these institutions so that
the best people go to the police. This is not the police force they
knew. This is a police force serving the people.

The same is true about the army. We are recruiting people under the
train and equip programme, but the people do not know about it and
are not enlisting. We are telling them to demonstrate to the people
that this is a different army, with different barracks, different
conditions, different duties and different responsibilities towards
the country. We need people there as well. Of course, people are
going to the army but the quality of the personnel often is not as
good as we need. We have many unemployed but talented people who have
opportunities to serve their country and people.

I want to call on these people again. I repeat that we are moving
towards modern, European-style agencies. This does not mean that
we do not value professionals. A professional is a professional in
every system. We have idealists and we have new people. I want to
ask everyone to work in a new way.

Thank you very much for your attention.

You can ask questions later, when we are outside.

Azeri leader criticizes Armenia for being Russia’s outpost in Caucasus

ANS TV, Baku
17 Dec 04

[Presenter] President Ilham Aliyev voted together with his family
today in the local government elections at polling station No 6
of Sabayil electoral constituency No 29. After casting his vote,
President Ilham Aliyev made important statements concerning the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

[Aliyev speaking to journalists] If we take a look at the history of
these talks, we will see that a certain new framework has appeared
in the past year. In particular, there is already a process called
the Prague process, and OSCE documents also mention the Prague process.

[Passage omitted: details]

But I also want to draw your attention to one issue. As you know,
the chairman of the Russian State Duma visited Armenia recently. He
said that Armenia is Russia’s outpost in the South Caucasus. For this
reason, we do not know now – we have always thought that Armenia was
a state. It turns out now that it is an outpost. Now should we hold
talks with the outpost or the master of the outpost? If this issue
becomes clear in Armenia, there will be a better situation for the
successful conduct of the talks.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian refugees sue Azerbaijan in European Court of Human Rights

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
16 Dec 04

[Presenter] Four families who were forcibly deported from Shaumyan
[Azerbaijan’s Goranboy District] and Getashen [Azerbaijan’s Caykand
village] have filed a lawsuit against Azerbaijan with the European
Court of Human Rights.

They have filed the suit in connection with the violation of the
property and housing rights of people who lived there and were
forcibly deported.

The Shaumyan-Getashen Union of Patriots, which has initiated this
action, expressed its readiness to defend the interests of thousands
of Armenian families that suffered from the aggression unleashed by
Azerbaijan in 1990.

Armenia urges EU summit to consider Turkey accession demands

Mediamax news agency
17 Dec 04

Yerevan, 17 December: Armenia “welcomes the decision of the European
Parliament calling on the European Commission and the European Union
(EU) to demand that the Turkish authorities recognize the historical
fact of the genocide of Armenians and immediately open its border
with Armenia,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement
circulated in the evening of 16 December in Yerevan.

“Turkey’s EU membership can be beneficial for Armenia and have a
positive impact on the region, if Ankara entirely complies with all
EU demands,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry statement says.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry recalled that Turkey was unilaterally
keeping its border with Armenia closed, had introduced criminal
responsibility for the use of the term “genocide” and was also putting
forward unacceptable preliminary conditions for the normalization of
relations with Armenia.

“Judging by the European Parliament’s decision, the European community
shares Armenia’s concern over the current unacceptable state of
Armenian-Turkish relations,” the statement says. “With all of its
uncertainty this situation is a serious danger for the development
of the South Caucasus as well as European prospects,” the Armenian
Foreign Ministry statement says.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry also said it wished for “the EU summit
to take into account with all seriousness and responsibility the call
of the European Parliament”. Yerevan “is convinced that if Turkey
listens to the calls of the European community, this will make it
easier to overcome all obstacles and ensure lasting stability and
the development of the region”.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russian border guards in Armenia to pay more attention to Iranian border

Mediamax news agency
17 Dec 04

Yerevan, 17 December: This year officers of the border department of
the Russian Federal Security Service in Armenia detained 119 violators
of the state border – 30 people more than in 2003.

Mediamax reports that Lt-Gen Sergey Bondarev, chief of the border
department, said today in Yerevan that the Russian border guards
are to pay special attention to the Iranian section of the border
in connection with the growth in trade turnover, the start of the
construction of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline and the implementation
of a number of other joint economic projects.

Sergey Bondarev also noted a possible increase in the flow of Armenian
refugees from Iraq and Iran, as well as of Kurds form Turkey if the
situation in those countries deteriorates.

Young Armenians against Turkey’s entry into EU

Mediamax news agency
17 Dec 04

Yerevan, 17 December: Several dozens of members of the youth
organization of the Dashnaktsutyun Party held a protest action today
outside the Yerevan office of the delegation of the European Commission
in Georgia and Armenia.

Mediamax news agency reports that the action was timed to coincide with
the summit of the leaders of European Union countries in Brussels,
which is to adopt an official decision to start talks on Turkey’s
accession to the EU.

The participants in the protest action also sent a letter to all the
EU embassies in Yerevan. The letter says:

“Turkey is conducting an extremely hostile policy with regard to
our country, repeatedly violating the principles of international
law. Turkey is destroying Armenia’s cultural heritage. Armenian
youth are worried that human rights violations and restrictions on
freedom of speech are taking place in Turkey. The European Union is a
model for the protection of human rights and main freedoms. However,
the start of the negotiating process on Turkey’s accession to the EU
casts a shadow on this image of the EU. Young Armenians hope that the
EU leaders will deny Turkey accession until that country recognizes
the 1915 genocide of Armenians.”

ANKARA – Turkish Daily News
17 December 2004

‘Turkey’s EU entry to help peace among civilizations’

Parliament’s of EU countries have not been making their decisions based upon
the principles of the Bible, and the Turkish Parliament has not been making
its decisions based upon the principles of the Koran either

ANKARA – Turkish Daily News

Turkish Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II fully supports Turkey’s EU bid, and
said he believes the European Union was not a “Christian Club” and that it
would set a date for the opening of accession talks with Ankara, the
Anatolia news agency said.

Mesrob II said European and Turkish politicians often used religious culture
as a tool in politics.
“Parliament’s of EU countries have not been making their decisions based
upon the principles of the Bible, and the Turkish Parliament has not been
making its decisions based upon the principles of the Koran either.
Integration of the EU and Turkey will be useful both for our region and the
world and for peace among civilizations,” Anatolia quoted Mesrob II as
saying.
Responding to a question concerning suggestions of having Turkey’s
recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide as a precondition for its EU
membership, Mesrob II said he agreed with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan who had earlier said that historians, not politicians, should
discuss the issue. However, he added a dialogue process should be started,
adding, “Facing up to history is important for building the future on a
stronger basis. People do not hug each other without being reconciled with
each other.”

Armenians accuse Turkey of killing as many as 1.5 million of their
countrymen during a 1915 to 1923 campaign to force them from eastern Turkey.
Ankara categorically rejects the charges.

–Boundary_(ID_ZA39LsQzZWgdp7yQDb1m6w)–

AZG Armenian Daily #227, 17/12/2004

Turkey-EU

WAC’S ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE OCCASION OF TURKEY’S BID TO ENTER EU

The European Commission, being EU’s executive body, has officially
announced about its readiness to negotiate with Turkey for its
political and economic integration into the European community. The
leaders of European states have to give their consent to start the
talks over Turkey’s accession to EU at the forthcoming EU summit.

No other EU bid has ever aroused so many controversial responses in
the European public and governments as Turkey’s appeal did. Despite
Turkey’s wide-ranging efforts to enlarge the circle of the supporters,
the polls show that only 1/3 of Europeans is ready to boost latter’s
bid.

Membership in the united family of the European nations supposes
that a country should secure human rights and freedom, follow the
principle of true democracy, peace and good neighborhood.

Yet, the whole history of the Turkish state and the history of its
relations with the Armenian nation give all the grounds to doubt
that Turkey will stick to European principles and values in case
it is admitted to the EU. Unfortunately the fact that the Ottoman
Turkey was once admitted to the family of the civilized nations
for its participation in the Crimean War of 1854-1856 did not turn
Turkey into a country with European civilization. Just the contrary,
Turkey implemented the policy of systematic elimination of enslaved
nations – Armenians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs, Assyrians, Maronites
and many others.

The present-day Turkey refuses to recognize the fact of the cruelest
crime against humanity, elimination of 1.5 million Armenians in the
Western Armenia, carries on the decade-long illegal blockade of the
Republic of Armenia thus maintaining tension in the Armenian-Turkish
relations and the threat of genocide reoccurrence.

Turkey ignores continual appeals of the European parliament to
recognize the Armenian Genocide and the request to take off the
blockade thus creating a ground for reconciliation and solution
for the Armenian Cause. EU’s this claim should become one of the
preconditions of Turkey’s accession. Turkey is ignoring EU’s other
standards too, particularly in securing social and civil rights
of national minorities, in renouncing its chauvinistic policy and
genocidal practice that are obligatory conditions of the Copenhagen
criteria for EU accession. Turkey’s approaches to justice and
international law should be real and not ostentatious.

The World Armenian Congress considers that Turkey’s refusal to
denounce the crime of Armenian Genocide, refusal to apply international
standards in settling quarrelsome issues with Greece, refusal to submit
to UN’s numerous decisions disapproving of Turkey’s occupation of
Cyprus and division of its territory, refusal to recognize the rights
of Kurdish national minority, continual suppression of individual,
group and religious freedoms make this country unacceptable for the EU.

How is the united Europe going to become a common house for Turkey if
its authorities do not realize the need of following the principals
and standards of a civilized community?

We are sure that the West, particularly Europe, that was putting
morality as a cornerstone in the policy of Bosnia and Kosovo, will
apply the same criterion in considering Turkey’s accession to EU.

Ara Abrahamian, President of the World Armenian Congress, UNESCO
Goodwill Ambassador

Final Positions of Key Member States

Zaman
12.17.2004 Friday

Leaders of European Union (EU) member states decide on Turkeyâ~@~Ys
negotiation process today. The bargaining process continued into the
night yesterday and will expectedly continue up to the last minute.

These are the attitudes of certain countries that have been influential
in shaping the decision on Turkey:

Great Britain: One of the three hegemonic powers in the EU, Great
Britain has been the biggest and most stable supporter of Turkey
within the EU. British Prime Minister Tony Blair himself as lobbied to
begin negotiations with Turkey without delay. London put on pressure
during the Copenhagen Summit in 2002; but Germany and France ended up
rejecting it. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip praised the British
support for Turkey in a speech in Brussels yesterday and qualified
London as the European capital that understands Turkeyâ~@~Ys concerns.
European Christian Democrats perceive British support as a deviation
from the EUâ~@~Ys federal goals. Londonâ~@~Ys strong support for Turkey
is interpreted as by opponents as an indication that the US hand is
wandering into Europe again. Britain strongly objects to the inclusion
of permanent restrictions in the resolution draft and emphasizes that
permanent restrictions would mean second class membership.

Germany: Social Democrats and the Green coalition in Germany
strongly support Turkeyâ~@~Ys EU membership. German Chancellor
Gerhard Schröeder changed Germanyâ~@~Y s policy on Turkey when he
came into power and has provided Turkey with strong support. Berlin
is putting on pressure at the summit for a goal of full membership and
abstinence from any mention of privileged partnership. The support of
a nation that meets one fourth of the EU budget is very significant.
Christian Democrats in France and Germany, one of the EUâ~@~Ys
founding states, have announced that they will do whatever they can
to block Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership if they win the 2006 elections even
if negotiations have already begun. Germanyâ~@~Ys right wing parties
claim that Schröederâ~@~Ys support for Turkey is based on his desire
for the 800,000 Turkish votes in Germany. The government insists that
Turkey â~@~Ys membership is of vital importance to 21st century Europe.

France: Mixed signals are still coming out of France, one of the most
important members of the EU, next to Germany. Despite French President
Jacques Chiracâ~@~Y s open support for Turkey in a televised speech the
other day, Paris still wants an alternative like privileged partnership
for Turkey to be included in the final summit resolution. Paris
urges that a formula be included that ensures the â~@~strongest
possible relations should be established with Ankara in case of a
failure of the negotiations.â~@~] Ankara harshly rejects this demand.
Despite Chiracâ~@~Ys support, his own party is strongly opposed to
Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership.

Although the EU promised at the 2002 Copenhagen Summit that â~@~if
the Progress Report is affirmative, negotiations will start without
delay,â~@~] it is trying to set a date of October or November,
2005 at Franceâ~@~Ys insistence. Chirac thinks that the issue of
negotiation with Turkey will negatively affect the referendum for
the EU Constitution. Thatâ~@~Ys why he wants the negotiations
with Ankara to be left until after the referendum on the EU
Constitution. Moreover, Paris was annoyed that Turkey declared it will
take the so-called Armenian genocide allegations to the table during
the negotiations. France is insistent on the adoption of permanent
restrictions on areas like free movement and common agricultural policy
(CAP), even if Turkey becomes a member. UMP President Nicolas Sarkozy,
who will run as a candidate in the 2007 presidential elections,
criticizes Chirac for his support of Turkey. France was the first
country to declare that it would hold a referendum on Turkeyâ~@~Ys
membership bid in the final phase of the negotiations.

The Netherlands: Mixed signals are also coming from the Netherlands,
the EUâ~@~Ys Term President and the most liberal and tolerant country
in Europe. Although Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende supports
the opening of negotiations with Turkey, he is trying to find the
right balance among the members. Balkenende said in a meeting with
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan in Brussels last week: â~@~ As the
game goes on, the rules cannot be changedâ~@~] in a reference to
Erdoganâ~@~Ys earlier remarks. Balkenende has clearly rejected the
proposal by German Christian Democrats leader Angela Merkel that
Turkey be granted â~@~privileged partnership,â~@~] but the killing of
Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh hurt the Netherlandsâ~@~Y multi-cultural
texture which was appreciated worldwide. The Van Gogh murder decreased
public support for Turkey. One of the former members of the EU
Commission, Frits Bolkenstein is the only commissioner objecting
to Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership. Bolkenstein claimed that Turkeyâ~@~Ys
membership would Islamicize Europe and make the â~@~1683 Vienna
Victoryâ~@~] meaningless.

Italy: Italy is one of the five largest countries to continuously
defend Turkey. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and
Britainâ~@~Ys Prime Minister Tony Blair had supported that negotiations
be started at the 2002 Copenhagen Summit. However, the Northern League,
one of the partners in Berlusconiâ~@~Ys government coalition, wants
Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership bid to go to a referendum. Rome, which will
not be taking the EU Constitution to a referendum, is not expected
to hold a referendum on Turkey either.

Austria: Vienna was surrounded twice by the Turks in 1536 and 1683
and is the EU member that most severely objects to negotiations
with Turkey. Austrian Prime Minister Wolfgang Schussel steadily
requests that a privileged partnership be given to Turkey instead
of membership. Austria insists on permanent restrictions and says
Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership will turn the EU into an economic union.

Greece: After hindering Turkeyâ~@~Ys EU adventure for many years,
Athens has been supporting Turkey since 1999. By insisting that
recognition of Greek Cyprus is a provision, Athens sends the message
to Greeks that they should blow up the process.

Greek Cypriot Administration: Although the Greeks were granted EU
membership despite voting â~@~noâ~@~] on the Annan Plan in the April
24th referendum, they have continued to threaten to use their veto
power right up to the last hours. Greek leader Tasos Papadopulos
claims that if Turkey does not recognize them diplomatically, they
will veto the start of negotiations. If Ankara gets what it wants at
the summit, including Greek Cypriots in the 1963 Ankara Convention
including could be a declaration of interest that embraces new ten
countries. Turkey has said several times that it is unacceptable to
recognize the Greek administration officially until the problem on
the island is solved.

12.17.2004 S. Gultasli, A. Ihsan Aydin, Basri Dogan Brussels

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