ANKARA, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Turkey told the European Union on Thursday it had been kept waiting long enough to join the wealthy bloc and said failure to open entry talks this year would spark bitter disappointment in the country of 70 million.
EU leaders are due to decide in December whether Turkey has made sufficient progress on human rights to begin what are sure to be lengthy and complex accession negotiations.
"In December, Turkey will be expecting the EU to make a decision on our common future. This cannot, should not, be postponed any longer," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told a gathering of Ankara-based EU ambassadors.
"Turkey has been put on hold longer than enough. To delay a decision, the EU has used up various arguments. Some of these arguments have not been to the benefit of the Union's own credibility," Gul said according to a text of his speech.
NATO-member Turkey has been knocking on Brussels' door since 1963 but only became an official candidate in 1999. Ankara has been irked to see former communist countries overtake it on the EU road. Eight such states will join in May. Ankara has often accused the EU of exaggerating Turkey's human rights abuses and other shortcomings while often giving other candidate countries the benefit of the doubt.
Many Turks suspect the EU does not really want to admit their country on account of its Muslim religion and large, relatively poor population.
IMPLEMENTATION
The ruling Justice and Development Party, which has Islamist roots, has approved a swathe of political and human rights legislation, winning praise from EU leaders. But they have also urged Ankara to fully implement the new laws.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer repeated that message during talks with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Thursday, Turkish officials said.
They also quoted Fischer as saying 2004 would be a difficult year for Turkey and also for the EU, which he noted had many other pressing issues including a new constitution to debate.
Erdogan warned of a Turkish backlash against Europe if the EU refuses to open entry talks.
"We will continue our reforms whatever the outcome (of the December meeting). We will not deviate from the EU path. But if negotiations are not started in 2004 we will be in a situation that goes beyond disappointment," he was quoted as saying.
"We would not be able to explain this to the Turkish people," said Erdogan. He did not specify what Turkey might do, but Gul has said in the past that Turkey would probably turn its back on the EU and seek new partners if talks do not begin.
Welcoming or not Turkey into the European Union is a very controversial step which raises strong emotions in Europe. On one side, we cannot give the impression that the EU is a "Christian Club" where there is no room for an Islamic country (although some European xenophobic movements think so). On the other side we cannot accept that one of our member countries does not respect human rights. The role of the army in the Turkish political system, the repression of dissent are thorny issues. Death penalty is also considered as an obstacle: for that matter, the US could not become a member of the European UNion if they wished to...
Federico
Not sure if you're still interested in this topic, but here's an article in a site that Francis suggested about the class of cultures . Europe.
Posted by: Sophia Tareen at February 16, 2004 10:31 AM