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Wall Street Journal, NY
Feb 23 2013
Merkel Calls for New Talks With Turkey on EU Role
By WILLIAM BOSTON
BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled movement in stalled
negotiations over Turkey's bid for membership in the European Union
ahead of a two-day visit for political talks in Ankara, illustrating
that growing concern about Turkey's political drift away from the West
could help Germany and France overcome their opposition to allowing
Turkey into the 27-nation bloc.
The German leader embarks on Sunday for two days of talks with Turkish
leaders and businesses, and a visit to German troops stationed on the
border to Syria as part of air-defense units deployed to protect North
Atlantic Treaty Organization partner Turkey from rocket attacks from
within Syria. In her weekly podcast, Ms. Merkel said she remains
skeptical about the outcome of EU membership talks with Turkey, which
began in 2005, and have been stalled over a bitter dispute between
Turkey and Greece over the status of the divided island Cyprus.
Despite the huge obstacles, Ms. Merkel called for restarting talks
with Ankara.
"We are conducting these negotiations open-ended," she said in the
podcast published on her website. "Recently, they have become stuck,
and I am in favor of opening a new chapter in these negotiations, so
that we make some progress. I will discuss this with the Turkish
government during my visit."
Negotiations over Turkey's potential membership in the EU began in
2005. At the outset, many in Europe were skeptical that Turkey could
overcome the challenges of overhauling all levels of society from its
basic laws to guarantee human rights, freedom of religion, and
protection of minorities, to economic overhauls and ensuring the
independence of its judicial system. EU officials say Turkey has
barely made any progress fulfilling the requirements imposed on any
country that applies for EU membership and that it still doesn't
uphold EU rules on freedom of speech, such freedom of the press, or
human rights.
Ms. Merkel and her conservative Christian Democratic Union party have
long proposed granting Turkey a special relationship with Europe,
rather than full membership, citing the many obstacles to membership.
Germany would like to grant Turkey a "privileged partnership" like the
relationship between the EU and Norway or Switzerland, which aren't
members of the bloc.
Turkey is growing impatient. Its economy is expanding at a rapid clip
and it is using its growing economic importance and large domestic
market to pressure Europe to restart talks with a firm commitment to
let Turkey into the European club.
"The economic powers of the world are shifting from west to east,"
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this month on a visit
to Prague, adding: "Turkey is one of the growth economies."
Despite the obstacles, European policy makers appear willing to reopen
negotiations and Ms. Merkel's visit to Ankara could be the icebreaker.
Two weeks ago, French President François Hollande signaled that he was
willing to drop his blockade to further talks over Turkey's EU
membership bid. When elected last year, Mr. Hollande said Turkey must
first recognize as genocide atrocities committed against Armenians by
Turkey at the beginning of the 20th century.
Following Mr. Hollande's signal, German policy makers have warned that
continued opposition to Turkey's EU bid by Germany could come at a
high price if Ankara slips into the sphere of influence of other
Islamic states in the region.
This week, the mass circulation Bild newspaper reported that European
Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger told a meeting at the Konrad
Adenauer Foundation last Monday that Europe would one day beg Turkey
to join the EU.
"One day in the next decade a German chancellor and his or her
counterpart in the Paris will have to crawl to Ankara on their knees
to beg the Turks," Bild reported him as saying. Mr. Oettinger wasn't
immediately available to comment.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, in an interview with the
Passauer Neue Nachrichten newspaper published on Saturday, said there
are diplomatic efforts under way to reopen talks with Turkey in the
first half of this year.
"We need to get new momentum in the negotiating process," he said. "If
we aren't careful, the day will come when Europe's interest in Turkey
is greater than Turkey's interest in Europe."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323864304578321813395518822.html?m od=googlenews_wsj
Feb 23 2013
Merkel Calls for New Talks With Turkey on EU Role
By WILLIAM BOSTON
BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled movement in stalled
negotiations over Turkey's bid for membership in the European Union
ahead of a two-day visit for political talks in Ankara, illustrating
that growing concern about Turkey's political drift away from the West
could help Germany and France overcome their opposition to allowing
Turkey into the 27-nation bloc.
The German leader embarks on Sunday for two days of talks with Turkish
leaders and businesses, and a visit to German troops stationed on the
border to Syria as part of air-defense units deployed to protect North
Atlantic Treaty Organization partner Turkey from rocket attacks from
within Syria. In her weekly podcast, Ms. Merkel said she remains
skeptical about the outcome of EU membership talks with Turkey, which
began in 2005, and have been stalled over a bitter dispute between
Turkey and Greece over the status of the divided island Cyprus.
Despite the huge obstacles, Ms. Merkel called for restarting talks
with Ankara.
"We are conducting these negotiations open-ended," she said in the
podcast published on her website. "Recently, they have become stuck,
and I am in favor of opening a new chapter in these negotiations, so
that we make some progress. I will discuss this with the Turkish
government during my visit."
Negotiations over Turkey's potential membership in the EU began in
2005. At the outset, many in Europe were skeptical that Turkey could
overcome the challenges of overhauling all levels of society from its
basic laws to guarantee human rights, freedom of religion, and
protection of minorities, to economic overhauls and ensuring the
independence of its judicial system. EU officials say Turkey has
barely made any progress fulfilling the requirements imposed on any
country that applies for EU membership and that it still doesn't
uphold EU rules on freedom of speech, such freedom of the press, or
human rights.
Ms. Merkel and her conservative Christian Democratic Union party have
long proposed granting Turkey a special relationship with Europe,
rather than full membership, citing the many obstacles to membership.
Germany would like to grant Turkey a "privileged partnership" like the
relationship between the EU and Norway or Switzerland, which aren't
members of the bloc.
Turkey is growing impatient. Its economy is expanding at a rapid clip
and it is using its growing economic importance and large domestic
market to pressure Europe to restart talks with a firm commitment to
let Turkey into the European club.
"The economic powers of the world are shifting from west to east,"
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this month on a visit
to Prague, adding: "Turkey is one of the growth economies."
Despite the obstacles, European policy makers appear willing to reopen
negotiations and Ms. Merkel's visit to Ankara could be the icebreaker.
Two weeks ago, French President François Hollande signaled that he was
willing to drop his blockade to further talks over Turkey's EU
membership bid. When elected last year, Mr. Hollande said Turkey must
first recognize as genocide atrocities committed against Armenians by
Turkey at the beginning of the 20th century.
Following Mr. Hollande's signal, German policy makers have warned that
continued opposition to Turkey's EU bid by Germany could come at a
high price if Ankara slips into the sphere of influence of other
Islamic states in the region.
This week, the mass circulation Bild newspaper reported that European
Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger told a meeting at the Konrad
Adenauer Foundation last Monday that Europe would one day beg Turkey
to join the EU.
"One day in the next decade a German chancellor and his or her
counterpart in the Paris will have to crawl to Ankara on their knees
to beg the Turks," Bild reported him as saying. Mr. Oettinger wasn't
immediately available to comment.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, in an interview with the
Passauer Neue Nachrichten newspaper published on Saturday, said there
are diplomatic efforts under way to reopen talks with Turkey in the
first half of this year.
"We need to get new momentum in the negotiating process," he said. "If
we aren't careful, the day will come when Europe's interest in Turkey
is greater than Turkey's interest in Europe."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323864304578321813395518822.html?m od=googlenews_wsj