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EU SCOLDS TURKEY ON BORDER ISSUES
AZG DAILY #207, 11-11-2010
The Wall Street Journal
The European Union said two Balkan states were ready to advance their
membership efforts, while it admonished Turkey to move faster to
settle its border disputes and to normalize relations with Cyprus.
The assessments came Tuesday from the European Commission, the EU's
executive arm, in separate reports on the readiness of countries that
aspire to join the 27-nation bloc.
The commission said that Croatia's membership negotiations were
entering "their final stage" and that Montenegro could now be
considered a candidate country.
It added, however, that Croatia needed to do better in making sure its
judiciary was independent and efficient, in fighting corruption and
organized crime, and in cooperating with the international tribunal
investigating war crimes during the break-up of Yugoslavia.
It also said Montenegro's negotiations couldn't start immediately
because of concerns over the rule of law.
Turkey was further criticized for shortcomings in free speech and
freedom of religion. Negotiations over Turkey's membership, which is
opposed by powerful EU states such as France and Germany, have dragged
on since 2005.
"No one can be satisfied with the current pace of negotiations," said
Stefan Füle, EU commissioner for enlargement.
In Rome, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made it clear that
Turkey doesn't have infinite patience to complete the process.
Europeans "must think about what the position of Europe will be in
2050," he said. "The EU may become irrelevant in the geopolitical
context" with a small share of the global economy and a closed
culture.
The assessment said freedom of expression and of the media need "to be
strengthened in Turkey both in law and in practice," while
"shortcomings remain in the exercise of the freedom of religion."
It said Turkey also needed to step up efforts to resolve disputes with
neighbors, including with Armenia—with which it signed a 2009
agreement to normalize relations that hasn't been ratified. The EU
also noted the lack of progress in normalizing relations with the
Greek-Cypriot half of Cyprus, which has been an EU member since 2004.
Egemen Bagis, Turkey's chief negotiator to the EU, indicated at a
dinner in Istanbul Tuesday that Turkey doesn't want EU membership
badly enough to make a unilateral gesture to unblock negotiations
frozen over Turkey's refusal to meet a pledge to open its ports to the
Greek-Cypriot part of Cyprus.
"After all, 17 [negotiating] chapters are blocked. I don't even have a
clear date to end the negotiations. I have so many leaders saying
Turkey shouldn't join at all. So why should I give up on Cyprus?" he
said.
Mr. Bagis, however, also called the report "the most positive and
encouraging" Turkey had ever received.
Turkish leaders, including Mr. Bagis, say EU membership remains their
top foreign-policy objective, but there is a decline in popular
Turkish interest in the EU. Turkish media widely noted Monday that
Albanians and Bosnians gained visa-free travel to the EU's borderless
Schengen zone, while Turks still are obliged to line up outside
embassies—despite Turkey's full customs union with the EU since 1995,
and although it is further advanced in the EU membership process.
According to a recent survey by the German Marshall Fund of the United
States, a think tank, Turkish support for joining the EU has fallen to
38% from 73% in 2004.
"Perhaps the Turkish public also will say, 'Let's not become a member
despite having successfully concluded the negotiations,' " Turkish
President Abdullah Gul said in a speech at the Chatham House think
tank in London on Monday.
From: A. Papazian
AZG DAILY #207, 11-11-2010
The Wall Street Journal
The European Union said two Balkan states were ready to advance their
membership efforts, while it admonished Turkey to move faster to
settle its border disputes and to normalize relations with Cyprus.
The assessments came Tuesday from the European Commission, the EU's
executive arm, in separate reports on the readiness of countries that
aspire to join the 27-nation bloc.
The commission said that Croatia's membership negotiations were
entering "their final stage" and that Montenegro could now be
considered a candidate country.
It added, however, that Croatia needed to do better in making sure its
judiciary was independent and efficient, in fighting corruption and
organized crime, and in cooperating with the international tribunal
investigating war crimes during the break-up of Yugoslavia.
It also said Montenegro's negotiations couldn't start immediately
because of concerns over the rule of law.
Turkey was further criticized for shortcomings in free speech and
freedom of religion. Negotiations over Turkey's membership, which is
opposed by powerful EU states such as France and Germany, have dragged
on since 2005.
"No one can be satisfied with the current pace of negotiations," said
Stefan Füle, EU commissioner for enlargement.
In Rome, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made it clear that
Turkey doesn't have infinite patience to complete the process.
Europeans "must think about what the position of Europe will be in
2050," he said. "The EU may become irrelevant in the geopolitical
context" with a small share of the global economy and a closed
culture.
The assessment said freedom of expression and of the media need "to be
strengthened in Turkey both in law and in practice," while
"shortcomings remain in the exercise of the freedom of religion."
It said Turkey also needed to step up efforts to resolve disputes with
neighbors, including with Armenia—with which it signed a 2009
agreement to normalize relations that hasn't been ratified. The EU
also noted the lack of progress in normalizing relations with the
Greek-Cypriot half of Cyprus, which has been an EU member since 2004.
Egemen Bagis, Turkey's chief negotiator to the EU, indicated at a
dinner in Istanbul Tuesday that Turkey doesn't want EU membership
badly enough to make a unilateral gesture to unblock negotiations
frozen over Turkey's refusal to meet a pledge to open its ports to the
Greek-Cypriot part of Cyprus.
"After all, 17 [negotiating] chapters are blocked. I don't even have a
clear date to end the negotiations. I have so many leaders saying
Turkey shouldn't join at all. So why should I give up on Cyprus?" he
said.
Mr. Bagis, however, also called the report "the most positive and
encouraging" Turkey had ever received.
Turkish leaders, including Mr. Bagis, say EU membership remains their
top foreign-policy objective, but there is a decline in popular
Turkish interest in the EU. Turkish media widely noted Monday that
Albanians and Bosnians gained visa-free travel to the EU's borderless
Schengen zone, while Turks still are obliged to line up outside
embassies—despite Turkey's full customs union with the EU since 1995,
and although it is further advanced in the EU membership process.
According to a recent survey by the German Marshall Fund of the United
States, a think tank, Turkish support for joining the EU has fallen to
38% from 73% in 2004.
"Perhaps the Turkish public also will say, 'Let's not become a member
despite having successfully concluded the negotiations,' " Turkish
President Abdullah Gul said in a speech at the Chatham House think
tank in London on Monday.
From: A. Papazian