BBC News
Last Updated: Monday, 28 June, 2004, 16:01 GMT 17:01 UK
Turkey’s unrequited EU love
By Oana Lungescu
BBC correspondent in Istanbul
Two years ago, Turkey won the Eurovision song contest with a tale of
unrequited love.
In many ways, it echoed the country’s own unsuccessful bid to woo the
European Union since 1963, when it signed an association agreement that
promised eventual membership of the bloc.
Things began moving in 1999 when Turkey was officially recognised as an EU
candidate, and especially after the election of the Justice and Development
Party (AKP) government in 2002, which quickened political reforms to an
unprecedented pace.
Earlier this month, Turkish state television began broadcasting in Kurdish,
the language of a sizeable minority in this country of 67 million.
On the same day, the government released four Kurdish activists, including
human rights award winner Leyla Zana, who had spent 10 years in jail after
trials deemed unfair by the EU.
Turkey’s new government is working hard on reforming its image
Over the past 18 months, the government has passed nine reform packages,
including a ban on the death penalty, a zero-tolerance policy towards
torture in prisons, and curtailing the interference of the military in
politics, education and culture.
“I am impressed – because starting with the constitution, they’ve changed a
lot of laws,” says Murat Celikan, a human rights activist who writes a
regular column in the daily Radikal.
“To give one example, two years ago, a radio was banned for one year for
airing a song in Kurdish and in Armenian. Now the state television has
Kurdish programmes – so that’s a great change.”
The EU has also welcomed the reforms, but it wants them implemented across
this vast country by local police, judges and bureaucrats. So far,
implementation is uneven, especially in the provinces and the Kurdish areas
in the south-east.
“It will take time because I am sure that the security forces especially are
not yet well informed about those changes. If you want to make a
demonstration in Istanbul or in an eastern province like Diyarbakir, the
procedures are still different – not by law, but because of implementation,”
says Murat Celikan.
Investor wariness
The prospect of EU membership, coupled with IMF-inspired reforms, have also
brought greater stability to the crisis-prone Turkish economy.
Huge shopping centres are full of young people in search of the latest
trends. The economy is growing, while inflation has fallen to single-digit
figures for the first time in decades.
It will be a big, almost the biggest country, it will be pretty much the
poorest country in the EU and it’s located in quite a difficult strategic
security position
Kirsty Hughes
Analyst
But foreign investors remain wary of Turkey. In 2002, they invested only
$300m (£164m), 10 times less than in Hungary, a country whose entire economy
equals that of Istanbul.
Cem Duna, a leading member of the influential Turkish businessmen and
industrialists association Tusiad, has this explanation.
“Hungary is a member of the European Union and has been a candidate for the
past 10 years or so, this was the main reason why this happened. Now Turkey
can easily amass up to $10-15bn (£5.5-8bn) foreign direct investment per
annum once it is on the same track, with the same finality in sight.”
Meanwhile, Turkey remains poorer than the 10 countries of central and
southern Europe that have just joined the EU, with living standards at about
a quarter of EU levels.
Muslim giant
But in terms of population, it is as big as all of the 10 put together.
If it were to join around 2015, it would become the second biggest country
in the EU after Germany.
Is the EU ready to admit such a large poor country, which also happens to
border on Iraq and Syria?
Kurdish rights have improved as Turkey tries to gain EU entry
Kirsty Hughes is the author of a recent study on the implications of Turkish
EU membership.
“It will be a big, almost the biggest country, it will be pretty much the
poorest country in the EU and it’s located in quite a difficult
strategically security position,” she says.
“But when you actually look at what does that mean for joining the union,
what it means for its economic policies, for its budget, for how it votes to
make decisions, then all those things start to look manageable.
“For instance, it would have about 15% of the votes in the EU Council,
that’s slightly less than Germany has today in the say of how to run the EU.
In budget terms it would cost about as much as the ‘big bang’ enlargement
that we’ve just had.
“Now again, that’s not cheap, but it’s about 10% to 15% of the EU’s budget
so it’s not as shocking as if you said it’s going to be half the budget. It
does have a lot of implications for EU foreign policy, but I think those
will have to be taken as they come.”
Strategic
For Guenter Verheugen, the European enlargement commissioner, Turkey’s
strategic position straddling Europe and the greater Middle East is an asset
rather than a drawback.
EU politicians face one of the toughest decisions they have ever had to
take. If they say no to Turkey, they risk alienating a key ally in the
Muslim world with unpredictable consequences. If they say yes, they may
upset many voters at home who are already unhappy about where the EU is
going
At a recent conference in Brussels, he warned that the EU would make a
tragic mistake if it stopped or reversed the process of democratisation in
Turkey by denying it eventual membership.
“The eleventh of September 2001 marks a far-reaching change in our strategic
thinking. Since 11 September, the question of the relationship between
Western democracies and the Islamic world is one of the most important
issues in the first decade of the 21st Century.
“The question – which role will Turkey play in the organisation of that
relationship – can be very crucial. Personally, I am convinced it will be
crucial.
“And the process of reforms in Turkey has a meaning far beyond the borders
of that country. It has a meaning for the whole Islamic world, because it
demonstrates that there’s no contradiction between the universal values of
human rights, democracy, the state of law and a country with a Muslim
population and Muslim background.”
EU decision
In October, Mr Verheugen will issue a progress report on Turkey which will
form the basis for the decision of EU leaders.
While the report is widely expected to be positive, public opinion in
France, Germany, Austria and elsewhere is becoming increasingly reluctant to
accept a further enlargement of the EU, especially to include a large Muslim
nation like Turkey.
Since the Netherlands will be holding the EU’s rotating presidency in the
second half of the year, I asked Ben Bot, the Dutch foreign minister (and a
former Dutch ambassador to Turkey) how worried he is about the lack of
public support among Western voters?
“Perhaps there has been a lack of proper communication and now there is, I
think, an unjustified fear of Islam, which is perhaps understandable in the
context of terrorism and so on, but which is not justified – because I think
that the situation in Turkey is completely different.
“They also forget that Turkey has been a member of Nato, of the Council of
Europe, that it has helped the West during all these years, also during the
Cold War, has been a staunch ally.
“And so, it’s in itself astonishing that people all of a sudden are against
Turkish participation, whereas we think that Turkey would be a very valuable
member of the EU. It will take a long time, that I agree, it will certainly
take many, many years of negotiations before they fully comply with all the
criteria.”
Indeed, in 10 years or so from now, the EU will be a very different union,
and Turkey will be a very different country.
But come December, EU politicians face one of the toughest decisions they
have ever had to take.
If they say no to Turkey, they risk alienating a key ally in the Muslim
world. But if they say yes, they may upset many voters at home who are
already unhappy about where the EU is going.

A1 Plus | 14:08:04 | 29-06-2004 | Official |
ARMENIANS IN ISTANBUL
On June 28 morning Turkey’s Industry and Trade Minister Ali Joshqan met the
Armenian delegation, which arrived in Istanbul to partake in NATO Summit.
Armenian delegation head, FM Vardan Oskanyan met Turkey’s Vice Prime
Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gule in Istanbul’ Congress and
Exhibition Center where NATO Summit passes.
Issues regarding bilateral relations, situation in the region and the
present process of Karabakhi conflict settlement were on the agenda.
Stressing importance of such meeting both parts agreed upon continuing the
direct dialogue.
On June 28 evening Armenian, Turkish and Azerbaijani Foreign Affairs
Ministers met. They discussed the situation in Southern Caucasus, exchanged
thoughts on developments in the region, like expansion of European Union,
enrollment of Caucasus states in EU “New Neighborhood” and the new
approaches of NATO to Caucasus.
Ministers also referred to Karabakhi conflict settlement, especially in the
light of the meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs on June 21 in
Prague.

Pictorial Gazette, CT
June 29 2004
>From Armenia, a novel product

By: Jason Fell 06/29/2004

ESSEX – “It’s really amazing how a couple bucks and a little
confidence can change the lives of people that live across the
world,” says Peter Kwasniewski.
He should know. Kwasniewski has dreamed up a business that not only
benefits the owners, but a number of families in a mountain village
in Armenia.
Peter just launched Peter K Designs, an online business retailing
designer belts and dog collars, which are hand-stitched by Armenian
women from the village of Noembrayan, in the country’s northeast
corner. The unusual partnership was conceived after Peter and his
wife Stephanie returned from a two-year stint in Armenia with the
Peace Corps.
It happened like this. While working with the villagers – Peter as a
business consultant and Stephanie as an English teacher-trainer –
they noticed that a number of women and girls were exceptionally
skilled in the art of petit needlepoint and embroidery, which is
similar to cross-stitching only the stitches are much smaller. The
women would try to sell 6-by-11-inch embroidery designs – which took
about 150 hours to make – to foreign merchants who occasionally
traveled through the village looking for craft items. If the women
were lucky, they’d get $4 for each item. Sometimes the merchants
would just take the work, promising to pay later but would never
return.
Armenia is a country about the size of Maryland and is located in
southwestern Asia, just east of Turkey. Since gaining independence
from the former Soviet Union in 1991, villages across the country
have been struggling to maintain normal living standards.
“When the Soviets left Armenia, they took with them the knowledge of
running everyday operations,” Peter explained. “The Armenians didn’t
know anything because they never had to. Everything was done for
them.”
Noembrayan, where Peter and Stephanie worked, is located near the
border with Azerbaijan. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, has also contributed to
the country’s economic and social decline. According to recent
studies, 50 percent of the population lives below the poverty line,
while the unemployment rate is about 20 percent.
“There’s a lot of anger and frustration there,” Stephanie said,
“especially with the men. Many of the jobs available now, culturally,
the men are not allowed to do. Men can’t run a shop or work in a
restaurant. Many sit around the village all day or play backgammon. A
number of men have moved out of the country, mainly to Russia or the
United States, in hopes of finding work. The women are left trying to
provide for their families.”
Peter and Stephanie were impressed not only by the craftsmanship of
Noembrayan women but also their strong work ethic.
“These women would do anything to make money,” Peter said. “Somehow I
knew this was an unfinished part of my life. I knew their struggles.
I wanted to do something to not only ensure they wouldn’t be
exploited but also to put a significant amount of money in their
pockets.”
And help is precisely what he’s doing. Even before they returned to
Essex, Peter and Stephanie began selling the embroidered rectangles
to friends in the United States, who framed them as works of art. The
couple soon discovered, however, that the market for these was
limited. So they decided to develop a new business strategy.
Friends Bob and Eva Potts introduced Peter to Cecil Lyon, owner of
Leather Man Ltd. in Old Saybrook, producer of a nationally known line
of embroidered belts. Lyon suggested having the embroidery put on
belts. Peter liked the idea, feeling belts had better commercial
possibilities, because the designs were unique.
Having maintained relationships with the villagers, Peter employs 85
women – he hopes to someday employ 200 to 300 – to make the
needlepoint for the belts and dog collars. He supplies them with the
materials and pays them for their work once he receives it. Then
Peter will purchase the finishing materials, the leather straps and
brass findings and buckles, from Leather Man. Finally, all components
will be sent to Cindy Layton of Cindy’s Loft in Deep River to be sewn
together.
“Since I haven’t sold anything yet, I’ve fronted a lot of my own
savings to pay these women,” Peter said with a laugh. “But I know the
women are happy to have the work. They’re competing with each other
since the pay is by far better than what they’re used to.”
The belts and dog collars will be available exclusively online. They
come in a variety of motifs, including cities of the world, golfing
and sailing and can be monogrammed with up to three initials.
According to Peter, the industry standard for embroidered belts is 17
stitches per inch, but his are 24 stitches per inch, or 576 stitches
per square inch.
“These belts are finer than other belts available now,” Peter said.
“The detail is fabulous.”
Although the Web site is up and running, the belts and collars have
not yet been finished. Peter hopes to be able to start filling orders
within a couple weeks. He expects to sell each belt for $165 and each
dog collar for $60.
“If I’m helping these women to save money to send their children to
college or to put food on the table, that makes me happy,” Peter
said. “I’m hopeful this will start working out very soon.”
For further information about Peter K Designs, either call 767-3176
or log onto

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
June 29 2004
Oskanian: It is Premature to Expect Immediate Re-opening of
Turkish-Armenian Borders
Armenian and Turkish foreign ministers discussed the ways to
normalize relations between the two countries in a meeting held on
the sidelines of the NATO summit in Istanbul on Monday, Agence France
Press reported.
Vardan Oskanian of Armenia said he was `very satisfied’ with the
meeting he held with Abdullah Gul of Turkey where the major item on
the agenda was opening the Turkish-Armenian borders.
However, Oskanian said it would be premature to expect an immediate
re-opening of the borders.
Turkey closed off its gates to Armenian in 1993 in response to the
latter’s occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories. As a precondition
for opening of the borders and establishing of diplomatic
relationship with Armenia, Ankara demands that Yerevan release the
occupied Azeri territories, stop its efforts to gain an international
recognition of a so-called genocide of Armenians by Turks in early
20th century and give up territorial claims against Turkey.
According to ANS, a private TV channel in Baku, Turkish premier Recep
Tayyip Erdogan Erdogan reiterated the preconditions on Monday.

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
June 29 2004
Gul Says EU, NATO Keen to Stabilize Caucasus
Baku Today 29/06/2004 13:24
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Monday said both NATO and
the EU are keen to stabilize the conflict-torn Caucasian region,
Agence France Press reported.
According to the report, Gul said following a meeting with his
Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov and Vardan Oskanian in
Istanbul that the three had agreed to hold further trilateral
meetings later in the year.
Armenia’s Oskanian reportedly said, referring to the enlargement of
the EU and NATO: “We need to shape a new strategic vision for the
Caucasus so that we can keep pace with the developments around us.”
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Mamedyarov added: “We will try to do our
best to bring peace and stability to the region.”
Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported that the sides decided to
continue their trilateral meeting in September.

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
June 29 2004
Musavat Leader Meets U.S. Ambassador
Isa Gambar, leader of Azerbaijan’s main opposition Musavat (Equality)
party, has met with the U.S. ambassador in Baku, Rino Harnish,
opposition daily Yeni Musavat reported on Monday.
During the meeting Gambar and Harnish discussed issues relating to
Azerbaijan’s current political situation, the state of democracy,
human rights and political prisoners in the country as well as
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, Azerbaijan-NATO relationship, among
others. No further detail of the meeting was given in the report.
Sulhaddin Akbar, one of the deputy Musavat chairmen arrested
following last October’s riots in Baku who was later released, also
attended the meeting, according to Yeni Musavat.

Zaman, Turkey
June 29 2004
Gul Meets Azerbaijani, Armenian Counterparts
At a tripartite meeting held yesterday between Turkish Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul and his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts
Elmar Memmedyarov and Vartan Oskanyan, the Armenian side offered to
move the consultation process into a “regional initiative”.
“It is better not to limit these meetings to Karabagh,” said
Oskanyan. “We should also discuss economic and commercial issues. Let
Turkey remain at the helm. It connects the South Caucasus to Europe
and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). We must continue
these meetings. We should include Georgia in this process as well.”
Gul offered his support in return, “NATO and the European Union (EU)
seek a new vision for the South Caucasus. This must be backed up by
countries in the region.”
Upon this, Oskanyan said, “We should bring in new perspectives in
order to catch up with the developments around us.”
Gul responded, “Do not expect the border gate to be reopened at this
stage.”
Ankara gave the message “to proceed, even if it is with small steps.”
Diplomatic sources evaluated the meeting as the most successful yet.
The sources report that the fourth round of the meetings would be
held in September in New York.

Zaman, Turkey
June 29 2004
Erdogan: Kurds Are Not Minority but Part of All
At the Pan Atlantic Youth Summit yesterday organized as part of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit, Prime Minister
Erdogan emphasized that Kurds are not a minority, but one part of a
whole.
Erdogan answered questions posed by the audience at the Summit
attended by approximately 200 students. “Kurds are components
inextricable from the whole. Religious groups can be counted as a
minority. For us, the Kurds do not have minority status,” Erdogan
said in response to a question about the future of the Kurds. He also
pointed out that although he is from Rize, his spouse is from Siirt,
a southeastern city that is densely populated by Kurds. He said, “the
population in Turkey is almost hybrid, there is no minority.”
Erdogan said that NATO and the European Union (EU) have extended east
and Turkey is no longer a geographical wing, but rather the center.
He stressed that Turkey is gaining importance and it will
successfully overcome the difficulties with its historical experience
and the power it took to unify with the west. Erdogan said, “Turkey
is a candidate to be a symbol of 21st century culture and
civilization.” When asked when the Armenian border will be opened, he
reminded the audience that Armenia is an occupier in Azerbaijan. He
added: “Turkey cannot develop its relationship with Armenia and this
stems from Armenia. It is an incompatible country.” Erdogan
criticized Armenia for not attending the NATO summit. “The Armenian
Diaspora wants to keep so-called genocide on the agenda. It is
impossible for Turkey to approve this attitude.” He also replied to a
question about the new Turkish policy in the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC) by saying: “We put effort forth for the
unification of the island and started peace talks for the fourth
time. We showed we would be always a step ahead of the Greeks. The
side that rejected the Annan plan is in the EU and the situation of
the side who said yes is apparent.”
Next Step: Iraqi Election
All eyes have turned to elections to be held in January of 2005 for
the Iraq National Assembly now that sovereignty has been transferred.
The transfer of power took place yesterday, two days ahead of
schedule.
The new Constitution to be prepared by the Parliament in the fall of
2005 is to be presented for a referendum. The new government that
will be determined through the free general elections in December of
2005 will come to power in January of 2006.
The US forces entering the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on March 9, 2003
formed the Iraqi Temporary Governing Council consisting of 25 Iraqi
members on July 13, 2003. The Council enacted the interim
Constitution on March 8, 2004 and, after electing Ghazi Al-Yawar as
President on June 1, 2004, annulled itself as of June 28, 2004.
06.29.2004
Bahtiyar Kucuk, Servet Yanatma
Istanbul

Cumhuriyet, Turkey
June 29 2004
GUL HOLDS BILATERAL MEETINGS WITH WORLD LEADERS
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday held bilateral meetings with
several leaders attending the current NATO summit in Istanbul. In
talks with his British counterpart, Gul urged Jack Straw to lend
support to end the international isolation of the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Gul also called on Britain to begin direct
flight to the TRNC soon. For his part, Straw said that both the
European Union and Britain had been working seriously on the matter.
Furthermore, the Turkish foreign minister also met with his
Macedonian, Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts. /Cumhuriyet/

Turkish Daily News
June 29 2004
Turkey seeks catalyst role in Azeri-Armenian conflict
Foreign Minister Gul holds talks with Armenian and Azeri counterparts
on the sidelines of the NATO summit and discusses Cyprus steps with
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw
ANKARA – Turkish Daily News
Turkey seeks to become a catalyst between Azerbaijan and Armenia in
an effort to resolve the dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region,
Turkish officials said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Monday morning met his
Armenian counterpart, Vartan Oskanian, on the sidelines of the NATO
summit in Istanbul. Oskanian said that Yerevan was serious in its
determination to improve relations with Turkey, while Gul noted that
Turkey had the will to reciprocate.
Both ministers agreed that due to the public’s sensitivity in both
countries, it would take time to achieve this objective. Gul cited
the example of Cyprus, noting that they had first laid a foundation
that had paved the way for negotiations and relations.
NATO has been discussing a project for launching a Caucasus Stability
Pact, but the continued tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia is a
significant obstacle to the plan.
Gul was scheduled to hold a trilateral meeting with his Armenian and
Azerbaijani counterparts, Oskanian and Elmar Memmedyarov, later in
the day.
Turkey had severed its ties with Armenia and says normalization in
relations depends upon Armenia’s withdrawing its forces in
Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in Azeri territory under Armenian
occupation for the last decade. Other conditions for normalized ties
include Yerevan putting an end to its support for Armenian diaspora
efforts to secure international recognition of an alleged genocide of
Armenians at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire.
A Turkish official said that Armenia had no objection to developing
relations but noted that it had posed no objections during other
international meetings, later reneging on its pledges.
In this afternoon’s meeting, Oskanian was expected to broach the
issue of stability in the general Caucasus although the raising of
the topic would not be welcomed by the Armenian people.
Turkish officials said that all three ministers would express their
willingness to meet regularly on a trilateral basis in addition to
meetings at international summits.
Turkey and Armenia do not enjoy diplomatic relations. A Turkish
official close to the talks said, “Only the results and indirect
consequences of the problems between the two countries are of any
interest to us.” The Turkish official also declined to specify how
Turkey would act as a catalyst in relations between Azerbaijan and
Armenia.
Another topic during the meetings is expected to be the replacement
of private charter flights between Turkey and Armenia with scheduled
flights.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress