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(EU) EU/TURKEY: CRITICISM OF GISCARD D'ESTAING'S REMARKS
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Brussels, 12/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - There has been further negative reaction to the remarks made by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in an interview published in Le Monde, in which he said he did not believe Turkey should join the European Union (see EUROPE of 9 November, p.7).
"I do not think Turkey's membership would destroy the European Union", Günter Verheugen commented on Tuesday during a conference at the European Policy Centre. Mr Verheugen deplored the remarks made by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing but reaffirmed that, according to the Commission, Turkey is not yet ready to begin membership talks, because it still does not meet the required political criteria.
During their press conference on Tuesday (see above), Elmar Brok and Wilfried Martens also noted that Turkey does not meet the political criteria. Mr Brok said that, as far back as December 1999, he thought that giving Turkey candidate country status was a "mistake". He said it was opportunism to raise a country's expectations when it is obvious that it will take at least ten years to meet the conditions for negotiating membership. Was there a prior discussion between Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and the EPP on this matter? No, replied Mr Brok, who noted that, after the next enlargement, there would be the question of Europe's frontiers, a question that does not only concern Turkey. For countries that cannot join, we envisage a sort of "European Economic Area +", Mr Brok recalled, and Mr Martens stressed that the document adopted by the EPP in Estoril proposes the solution of European "partnership" to this country.
Marco Cappato, elected on the Lista Bonino, is for his part highly critical of the idea of a Europe as a "geographical area", as expressed by Giscard d'Estaing when invoking the fact that the majority of the Turkish population does not live on the European continent as a reason for refusing Turkey's accession . Mr Cappato said VGE has thus chosen to close the door not on a Europe of free trade, as he tries to make us believe, but on the ambition of a political Europe able to make the democratic nature of the institutions the centre of its own policy and hence also of the process of accession for Turkey, Israel and the democracies of the Balkans and the Caucasus. In his view, "if we did not know Giscard's commitment and history in favour of European integration, we would support an immediate request for the Chairman of the Convention to resign from office".
European Parliament President Pat Cox said that, as far as he knows, the President of the French Republic is Jacques Chirac, and he would like to know what Mr Chirac's position is concerning the unwise remarks by Mr Giscard d'Estaing. Mr Cox went on to say that VGE has done a good job on the issues for which he is responsible, and the Heads of State and Government are doing a good job on those for which they are responsible, including the Union's strategic relationship with Turkey. However, he went on, now is a particularly sensitive time in these relations, just after the elections in Turkey and a few weeks before the Copenhagen Summit - a time when measured strategic evaluation is needed and where each of us should express ourselves with caution.
David Heathcoat-Amory, the British Parliament's representative at the Convention, said: "Giscard is contradicting a decision of elected heads of government that Turkey is a candidate for EU membership (although negotiations have not opened). (…) Giscard's presidential habit of pronouncing from above has already given us a draft European Constitution which contains elements such as dual citizenship which were not discussed by the Convention. Now he is apparently seeking to veto Turkish accession, again without any mandate or consultation. If this is the way the rest of the Convention is to be run, we had better declare our outright opposition now".
Erdogan invites Giscard to "think before speaking"
The Chairman of the Convention should "think before speaking", the leader of the AKP party, that won the elections in Turkey, said, rejecting the very strong declarations made by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (EUROPE of 9 November, p.7). "I find his statements unfortunate at this time", Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview with The Times. In this post 11 September world, "the EU really shouldn't take any steps that would threaten inter-cultural dialogue", the AKP leader stresses. He sees VGE's "attitude" as "something that could spoil this dialogue". During the interview, Mr Erdogan again stated his commitment in favour of human rights and freedom of expression, that he also sees as a means to alleviate Turkey's strictly secularist rules, for example, for lifting the ban on women wearing headscarves in public offices, for instance.
"I do not think Turkey's membership would destroy the European Union", Günter Verheugen commented on Tuesday during a conference at the European Policy Centre. Mr Verheugen deplored the remarks made by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing but reaffirmed that, according to the Commission, Turkey is not yet ready to begin membership talks, because it still does not meet the required political criteria.
During their press conference on Tuesday (see above), Elmar Brok and Wilfried Martens also noted that Turkey does not meet the political criteria. Mr Brok said that, as far back as December 1999, he thought that giving Turkey candidate country status was a "mistake". He said it was opportunism to raise a country's expectations when it is obvious that it will take at least ten years to meet the conditions for negotiating membership. Was there a prior discussion between Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and the EPP on this matter? No, replied Mr Brok, who noted that, after the next enlargement, there would be the question of Europe's frontiers, a question that does not only concern Turkey. For countries that cannot join, we envisage a sort of "European Economic Area +", Mr Brok recalled, and Mr Martens stressed that the document adopted by the EPP in Estoril proposes the solution of European "partnership" to this country.
Marco Cappato, elected on the Lista Bonino, is for his part highly critical of the idea of a Europe as a "geographical area", as expressed by Giscard d'Estaing when invoking the fact that the majority of the Turkish population does not live on the European continent as a reason for refusing Turkey's accession . Mr Cappato said VGE has thus chosen to close the door not on a Europe of free trade, as he tries to make us believe, but on the ambition of a political Europe able to make the democratic nature of the institutions the centre of its own policy and hence also of the process of accession for Turkey, Israel and the democracies of the Balkans and the Caucasus. In his view, "if we did not know Giscard's commitment and history in favour of European integration, we would support an immediate request for the Chairman of the Convention to resign from office".
European Parliament President Pat Cox said that, as far as he knows, the President of the French Republic is Jacques Chirac, and he would like to know what Mr Chirac's position is concerning the unwise remarks by Mr Giscard d'Estaing. Mr Cox went on to say that VGE has done a good job on the issues for which he is responsible, and the Heads of State and Government are doing a good job on those for which they are responsible, including the Union's strategic relationship with Turkey. However, he went on, now is a particularly sensitive time in these relations, just after the elections in Turkey and a few weeks before the Copenhagen Summit - a time when measured strategic evaluation is needed and where each of us should express ourselves with caution.
David Heathcoat-Amory, the British Parliament's representative at the Convention, said: "Giscard is contradicting a decision of elected heads of government that Turkey is a candidate for EU membership (although negotiations have not opened). (…) Giscard's presidential habit of pronouncing from above has already given us a draft European Constitution which contains elements such as dual citizenship which were not discussed by the Convention. Now he is apparently seeking to veto Turkish accession, again without any mandate or consultation. If this is the way the rest of the Convention is to be run, we had better declare our outright opposition now".
Erdogan invites Giscard to "think before speaking"
The Chairman of the Convention should "think before speaking", the leader of the AKP party, that won the elections in Turkey, said, rejecting the very strong declarations made by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (EUROPE of 9 November, p.7). "I find his statements unfortunate at this time", Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview with The Times. In this post 11 September world, "the EU really shouldn't take any steps that would threaten inter-cultural dialogue", the AKP leader stresses. He sees VGE's "attitude" as "something that could spoil this dialogue". During the interview, Mr Erdogan again stated his commitment in favour of human rights and freedom of expression, that he also sees as a means to alleviate Turkey's strictly secularist rules, for example, for lifting the ban on women wearing headscarves in public offices, for instance.
