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AUSTRIA PREFERS SPECIAL PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN EU, TURKEY
PanARMENIAN.Net
May 3, 2011
Austria would prefer forging a special partnership between the European
Union and Turkey over full EU membership for Ankara, Austrian Foreign
Minister Michael Spindelegger said.
In an interview with Austrian radio broadcast on Tuesday, May 3,
during a visit by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Spindelegger said
EU membership negotiations with Turkey would take years and serve to
"Europeanize" the country.
"We will wait and see what happens, be constructive, but remain true
to our basic position that we will strive for a special partnership
with Turkey," he said.
Vienna's official line is that the outcome of Turkish entry talks is
open. Austrian voters would get the final say in a referendum if enough
members of parliament seek one, as resurgent far-right parties demand.
Gul had called on Monday for a factual discussion of open points
in the talks, criticised restrictions on EU visas, and urged the
roughly 200,000 Turks in Austria - half of them Austrian nationals -
to master German as well as Turkish.
In a radio interview aired on Tuesday Gul suggested booming bilateral
business ties may suffer if Turkey continues to get the cold shoulder.
"One should ask whether Austrian companies will continue to be able
to make the profits they make now in Turkey if they don't cooperate
with Turkey," he said.
He also addressed criticism of Turkey's record on guaranteeing freedom
of speech by saying: "In Turkey no journalist will be punished for
his journalistic activity. No one will be sanctioned for his opinion,"
he said, Today's Zaman reported.
From: A. Papazian
PanARMENIAN.Net
May 3, 2011
Austria would prefer forging a special partnership between the European
Union and Turkey over full EU membership for Ankara, Austrian Foreign
Minister Michael Spindelegger said.
In an interview with Austrian radio broadcast on Tuesday, May 3,
during a visit by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Spindelegger said
EU membership negotiations with Turkey would take years and serve to
"Europeanize" the country.
"We will wait and see what happens, be constructive, but remain true
to our basic position that we will strive for a special partnership
with Turkey," he said.
Vienna's official line is that the outcome of Turkish entry talks is
open. Austrian voters would get the final say in a referendum if enough
members of parliament seek one, as resurgent far-right parties demand.
Gul had called on Monday for a factual discussion of open points
in the talks, criticised restrictions on EU visas, and urged the
roughly 200,000 Turks in Austria - half of them Austrian nationals -
to master German as well as Turkish.
In a radio interview aired on Tuesday Gul suggested booming bilateral
business ties may suffer if Turkey continues to get the cold shoulder.
"One should ask whether Austrian companies will continue to be able
to make the profits they make now in Turkey if they don't cooperate
with Turkey," he said.
He also addressed criticism of Turkey's record on guaranteeing freedom
of speech by saying: "In Turkey no journalist will be punished for
his journalistic activity. No one will be sanctioned for his opinion,"
he said, Today's Zaman reported.
From: A. Papazian