Patience My Donkey(Olme Esegim Olme)

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Turkey's EU dream dealt double blow as Chirac and Merkel raise doubts

Turkey's EU dream dealt double blow as Chirac and Merkel raise doubts

Luke Harding in Berlin and Nicholas Watt in Brussels
Saturday August 27, 2005
The Guardian


Turkey's 40-year dream of joining the European family suffered a double blow yesterday when Jacques Chirac and Angela Merkel, Germany's conservative leader, raised serious doubts about forthcoming talks on EU membership.
In his most significant intervention of the year on Turkey, the French president accused Ankara of failing to act "in the spirit" of a country hoping to join the EU.

Mr Chirac singled out Turkey's conduct last month when it signed a customs agreement with all EU countries - the last obstacle ahead of membership talks - but insisted that it would still refuse to recognise Cyprus.


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During talks in Paris yesterday with José Manuel Barroso, the European commission president, Mr Chirac warned that "this declaration poses political and legal problems and that it is not in the spirit expected of a candidate to the union".
As Mr Chirac voiced his unease, Turkey found itself under renewed pressure in the EU's largest country when Mrs Merkel signalled that she intends to torpedo Ankara's application if, as expected, she wins next month's German general election.

In a letter to the EU's conservative heads of government Mrs Merkel said negotiations with Turkey, which are due to start on October 3, should not automatically lead to membership. They should instead lead to a "privileged partnership" and should be "open ended".

The interventions by Mr Chirac and Mrs Merkel show that within weeks Turkey could face the nightmare scenario of losing the support of the EU's two most significant countries. Until now Paris and Berlin have been in favour of Turkish membership.

Mrs Merkel has always argued in favour of downgrading Turkish membership. The popularity of her stance has allowed Paris to become less friendly to Turkey after the French rejected the draft EU constitution in May. Unease at the prospect of Turkish EU membership was seen as part of the reason for the rejection.

The first public signs of the change in Paris came early this month when Dominique de Villepin, the French prime minister, said it was "inconceivable" that Turkey could start talks on EU membership without recognising one of its members. Unnamed ministers told Le Figaro newspaper that Mr Chirac had endorsed Mr De Villepin's remarks at a cabinet meeting.

The intervention by Mr Chirac yesterday shows that Turkey could run into trouble when the EU gives its formal response to its signing of the customs union, known as the Ankara Protocol. Britain, which is chairing the talks in its role as president of the EU, believes that Turkey does not need to recognise the Greek Cypriot government at this stage. But Britain needs to win the support of all 25 EU member states, which means that France could delay the talks.

Mrs Merkel's letter shows that she may try to change the nature of the membership negotiations. The basic framework of the talks, agreed by European leaders last December, is designed to lead to full membership. If the talks fail then Turkey would be offered something akin to Mrs Merkel's "privileged partnership".

But her plan would turn the talks on their head by placing this lower form of membership on the table at the start of the talks in October. Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, who would reject this, faces delicate discussions when he hosts a meeting of his EU counterparts in Wales next week.

Mrs Merkel sent her letter to the leaders of France, Italy, Austria, Holland and Greece, as well as to other conservative-led countries. A copy was sent to Tony Blair in his role as EU president.

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Chirac steps up pressure on Turkey over EU bid

Chirac steps up pressure on Turkey over EU bid
(Reuters)

29 August 2005



PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac increased pressure on Turkey on Monday to clarify its stance on Cyprus and said it must offer assurances it will carry out all its commitments to the European Union.


Turkey is due to start EU entry talks on Oct. 3, but has angered the union by saying its signing of a key EU protocol does not signify recognition of the Greek Cypriot government. Ankara backs breakaway Turkish Cypriots in northern Cyprus.

“Following its unilateral declaration on Cyprus, Turkey must make clarifications and assure the 25-nation EU of its willingness to fully respect its commitments (to the EU),” Chirac told a conference of French ambassadors.

“The opening of negotiations with Turkey is just the start of a long and difficult path whose end is uncertain,” he said.

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France Pushes Ahead with Cyprus Question pre Turkey-EU Talks

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
08/30/2005

France Pushes Ahead with Cyprus Question pre Turkey-EU Talks

(AFP/RTE News)--French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy has raised the
pressure on Turkey over Cyprus, saying it is inconceivable that a country
seeking to enter the EU could fail to recognize all its members.
Turkey is due to start EU entry talks on October 3, but has angered the union
by saying that its signing of a key EU protocol does not signify
recognition of
the Greek Cypriot government.
The EU recognizes the Greek Cypriot government of the divided island of
Cyprus, while Turkey has long supported the breakaway Turkish Cypriot northern
region.
"It is hardly conceivable that a country that is asking to enter a community
refuses to recognize one of its members," Douste-Blazy told a conference of
French ambassadors.
France "does not want to start a new crisis in Europe" but as an EU member it
"is within its rights in asking Turkey to clarify its position" on Cyprus,
Douste-Blazy said.
Turkey was high on the agenda of the ambassadors' meeting, whose theme this
year was the implications of the May 29 referendum in which French voters
rejected the proposed EU constitution treaty.
Opposition by some French parties to Turkey joining the EU was used as an
argument during the campaign for the constitution referendum, although the
issue was unconnected with the treaty itself.
French President Jacques Chirac said on Monday Turkey had to clarify its
stance on Cyprus and added it must offer assurances that it will carry out all
its commitments to the European Union. Chirac has promised to put the issue of
Turkish membership to a referendum; the European Commission repeated on Monday
its position that Turkey did not have to recognize Cyprus in order for
accession talks to begin.
EU President Jose Manuel Barroso said in an interview published on Tuesday
that no European Union members have suggested delaying the start of EU
membership talks with Turkey.
"So far, no country has signaled to me that it wants to delay the start of
talks [from the Oct. 3 target date]," Barroso was quoted as saying by Polish
daily Gazeta Wyborcza.
"The European Commission prepared a project of negotiations with Turkey.
It is
up to the countries in the EU to decide [to back it or not]," he said.
Douste-Blazy said France wanted to "respect its commitments but expects
Turkey
and other candidate countries to respect theirs and satisfy the conditions for
joining the Union

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Bot: Negotiation Framework for Turkey includes Armenian genocide

Federation of Armenian Organizations in The Netherlands (FAON)
April 24 Committee For Recognition and Commemoration of the Armenian
Genocide of 1915
Address: Weesperstraat 91 - 2574 VS Den Haag
Tel. 070 4490209
Contact: M. Hakhverdian
Website: http://24aprilcomite.ontheweb.nl
E-mail: [email protected]
K.v.K. 27

A report by I. Drost of the meeting of Standing Committee on European
and Foreign Affairs of the Dutch parliament with the minister of
Foreign Affairs Mr. Ben Bot on the meeting of European Foreign
Ministers beginning of September, where the EU negotiation framework
with Turkey will be discussed. At this meeting Mr. Bot declared that
the negotiation framework for Turkey includes Armenian Genocide
issue.

Bot: Negotiation Framework for Turkey includes Armenian genocide

The Hague, 1 September 2005 - Yesterday, in a Parliament meeting,
Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot assured the members of parliament that
the matter of the Armenian genocide is already a part of the
framework for negotiations with Turkey.

Mr. Bot said so in reaction to the urgent request of several factions
to adopt the recognition of the Armenian genocide in the negotiation
framework. In this context he referred to the commitment of good
neighbourly relations and undertaking to resolve any outstanding
border disputes in a peaceful settlement, as mentioned in the draft
negotiation framework.

On Chritian Union MP Rouvoet's explicit question if he understood
correctly that facing the own history and in particular the Armenian
Genocide are also meant in this wording, Mr. Bot answered in the
affirmative. He also confirmed that this is the European approach of
this matter and that Turkey is very much aware of this requirement.

Mr Bot did not expect any problems, like we have now with Cyprus, as
a result of the implicit wording, because it is the standing approach
within EU and EU itself is master of the ratification process.
Finally, the Minister gave the guarantee that he himself will always
be committed to these statements.

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Open-letter To The Eu Foreign Ministers

OPEN-LETTER TO THE EU FOREIGN MINISTERS
Written by Dr Harry Hagopian

Newropeans Magazine, France
Sept 6 2005

Dear EU Foreign Ministers,

I refer to the EU Gymnich 2005 informal meeting today at the Celtic
Manor Resort near Newport in Wales. One of the key items on your
agenda will be the formal opening of accession talks with Turkey on
3 October 2005.

I have often written or spoken about the inter-woven issues surrounding
Turkey's accession to the EU, and have also voiced my own support for
such membership so long as its fundamental criteria of admission are
neither overlooked nor overruled for the sake of politically-spun
expediency. Therefore, this Open Letter aspires to represent my
succinct guidebook to some of the topical points addressing Turkey's
bid to accede to the European Union. I hope you would take it into
consideration as you steer the future of the European Union, and as you
vet new members wishing to join this club in future years or decades.

The talks between the EU & Turkey are open-ended. Therefore, there is
no need for any haste in the decision-making process, as more of your
time should be spent in verifying that Turkey is indeed adhering to
the five criteria of the Copenhagen Summit of 2002. After all, these
criteria, covering political and socio-economic factors, also focus
strongly on democracy, good governance and human & minorities' rights.

I realise that Turkey recently extended its customs union protocol to
the ten new EU member-states (including the Republic of Cyprus), but
such extension does not include diplomatic recognition of Cyprus. As
the French Prime Minister stated, it is inconceivable let alone
impolitic to envisage a process of negotiation with a candidate
country that does not recognise another EU member-state or grant its
[Cypriot] ships and planes access to Turkish ports and airports under
the customs union.

I have noted that an idea mooted in the EU corridors for some months
now, mainly that of granting Turkey a privileged partnership rather
than full membership, has re-surfaced once more. Germany, in the throes
of an election between the incumbent Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (SPD)
and Angela Merkel (CDU), as well as Austria and other EU and non-EU
European countries, are proponents of this Iceland-type approach.

In fact, and unless my reading of the EU compass is totally off-centre,
it is not possible to decide with finality on Turkey's accession until
2014 anyway - corresponding to the date of the next EU seven-year
budget.

I have also been following the economic strides that Turkey has made
in the last period. There have been noticeable and praiseworthy
improvements in the fields of unemployment, inflationary rates,
banking system, education levels, income & corporate taxes - all
definitively helping strengthen the economy.

However, for the sake of being thorough, let me also add that much
of the optimism over Turkey's economic roadmap has been over-egged
- possibly for political and PR purposes - and there still remain
serious indicators let alone concerns about the impact of Turkey's
accession to the EU. For instance:

Subsidies that would go to Turkey alone are estimated to exceed.

[email protected] billion and, according to some predictions, balloon to [email protected]
billion - including vast agricultural subsidies and regional aid;
Rather than providing an educated and sophisticated labour force.

for Europe at large, those leaving Turkey to seek work in the EU
in a post-accession environment will in all likelihood be poor,
uneducated and in large numbers - causing an imbalance in employment
scales within the EU; In the last year, there has been a 134% rise
to $10.4 billion in.

the country's current account deficit; Turkey is running a massive
debt, and includes $23 billion owed to the IMF as well as billions
borrowed via the international bond markets; Given that the mean
gross public debt is around 40% of gross.

domestic product in the new member-states, it is noteworthy that
Turkey's gross debt is double that figure at c. 80% of its GDP.

At this stage, I must also raise another issue that is close to my
own heart. As an Armenian, who is also an international legal and
political consultant, I wish to remind you of the Armenian Genocide
of 1915 and link it with some of the rights and values that I cherish
most within the EU - including the fundamental freedom of expression.

Now, I do realise that this 90-year-old issue evokes different
reactions within different EU countries. On the one hand, it is clear
that the issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide still
produces a measure of indifference within a few of the twenty-five
countries of our Union. On the other hand, it generates various
degrees of irritable non-support, expedient support or full-fledged
support within most other member-states.

Mind you, I cannot understand the position of our own Government
as it constantly re-iterates its regret about the massacres in
1915 against Armenians but adds that there is no evidence that they
constituted genocide according to the 1948 United Nations Convention
on Genocide. Surely an unethical position, when one thinks of the
litany of eminent British and international historians who have
unequivocally stated that this was indeed genocide.

Not only that, but the Blue Book (The Treatment of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire, 1915-6), which the historian Arnold Toynbee compiled
for Lord Bryce during WWI, is of relevant historical evidence. It
is a written and textual indictment of Ottoman Turkey by eyewitness
accounts that described the atrocities committed against Armenians
during WWI. Turkey has attacked this book, published by Her Majesty's
Stationery Office, as war propaganda. Yet, when this question was put
to Toynbee in a personal letter, he replied: - It is true that the
British Government's motive in asking Lord Bryce to compile the Blue
Book was propaganda. But Lord Bryce's motive in undertaking it, and
mine in working on it for him, was to make the truth known, and the
evidence was good: the witnesses were all American missionaries with
no political axe to grind. So the Blue Book, together with Lepsius'
book {Deutschland und Armenien, 1914-1918}, does give a true account.

Turkey's reaction to the Armenian Genocide goes well beyond sheer
denial. In order to expunge itself of the burden of mens rea or
its criminal intent, it is now imputing this intent on Armenians
by claiming that they were the ones who perpetrated those genocidal
massacres against Turkey. Such a reaction regrettably reminds me of
the psychology of more recent genocidal chapters in Rwanda or Darfur
when victimisers try to project themselves as victims.

But Turkey is now also muzzling the fundamental freedom of expression
within its territories. Allow me to refer you to one instance. Orhan
Pamuk, perhaps the most acclaimed Turkish author whose books
include My Name is Red and Snow, gave an interview to the Swiss
newspaper Tages-Anzeiger on 6 February 2005 in which he was quoted as
saying that Turkey killed 30,000 Kurds and one million Armenians. A
prosecutor in Istanbul has now indicted Mr Pamuk under Article 301[1]
of the Turkish Penal Code on charges that his remarks amounted to a
'public denigration' of Turkish national identity - punishable by up
to three years' imprisonment.

Dear EU Foreign Ministers, you are surely well aware that the overall
mood within the European Union has altered dramatically in the last
year or two. It can perhaps best be amplified by the volatile discourse
within the whole EU about the Constitution that culminated with
significant rejections in France and the Netherlands. As a European
citizen, I do not believe at all that the EU project is dead. Nor
do I believe that it should be shelved and later transmuted into an
ante factum free-trade market. Much of Europe would still support
the post-war philosophy of Europe and its coherent harmonisation,
so long as its structures are reformed, transparent and accountable,
and that the yawning gap between ruling politicians or bureaucrats and
the overwhelming European population is narrowed down. The tool cannot
become the toolmaker, and the EU needs to listen to its constituents
as it moves forward. After all, you need simply log on the newropeans
magazine web-site to assess the strength of innovative feelings
running within the EU - regardless of dubious political distinctions
made between old and new Europe.

My guidebook highlights those challenges that Turkey as the applicant
country, and the EU as the host body, both face today. I hope you
will not shy away from adopting those constructive decisions that
could ultimately help strengthen the EU. Do not seek discouragingly
paternalistic solutions. Sophistry or cosmetic powder will not dupe
the EU citizens any longer - certainly not at a time when they are
questioning you about their collective futures.

Today, in Wales, it behoves well for Turkey to remember that it cannot
keep using its hackneyed arguments - be it on Cyprus, the necessary
reforms it must undertake, its approach to the human and minorities'
rights of its own citizens or the Armenian Genocide. It is no longer
enough to hide behind arguments of Islam versus secularism, political
chauvinism or even geo-strategic interests.

Indeed, it does not bode well for Turkey's admission to the EU when
it trashes a Report on minority and cultural rights, prepared by the
Human Rights Advisory Board and chaired by Professor Baskin Oran,
because it does not support the official Turkish thesis. It does
not bode well either when it cancels an academic conference on the
Armenian Genocide [at the Bogazici / Bosphorus University] because
the Turkish Minister of Justice Cemil Cecik believes it is 'a stab
in the back of the Turkish nation'.

The EU project has taught me that narrow-minded ideological nationalism
no longer sits well anymore with our more freedom-friendly and open
EU today. You should call upon Turkey to move forward, not backslide
at every turn. After all, if I am to welcome Turkey into the European
fold, do you not think I have the right to ask that it uphold those
same Eurocentric principles that I as a European must uphold too?

I wish you success in your deliberations for the overall good of the
larger European Union.

Yours in Europe,

Dr Harry Hagopian, LONDON - 1 September 2005

LL.D- Executive Consultant Campaign for Recognition of the Armenian
Genocide (CRAG) [Committee of the] Armenian Community & Church Council
(ACCC)

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Austria Blocks Turkey's Road To Eu Membership

Nicholas Watt in Brussels

_The Guardian_ (http://www.guardian.co.uk/)
Wednesday September 14, 2005

Turkey will today face a new setback to its EU ambition when Austria
declares that it is wrong to open membership talks with Ankara while
blocking Austria's near neighbour - and fellow Christian country -
Croatia.

At a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels, Austria is likely to
succeed in convening an emergency meeting of foreign ministers days
before the start of Turkey's EU membership talks on October 3. The
timing of the Austrian intervention is significant. A taskforce of EU
ministers, including Jack Straw and the putative EU foreign minister
Javier Solana, is expected to pronounce on Croatia a few days before
the emergency meeting on 26 September.

Membership talks with Croatia were due to open in the spring. But
they were called off after ministers ruled that Zagreb was failing
to do enough to hand over an indicted war criminal, Ante Gotovina,
to the international war crimes tribunal.

Carla del Ponte, the court's chief prosecutor, who has been critical
of Zagreb, is expected to rule on whether Croatia has been more
cooperative in recent months.

Under the rules governing its EU membership talks Croatia merely has
to show it is offering full cooperation with the Hague in its attempts
to track down Gotovina.

A green light for Croatia would raise the possibility of a symbolic
start to EU membership talks for a Muslim and a Catholic country at
virtually the same time. One EU diplomat said: "If you start talks
with Turkey and not Croatia that is very difficult. The Austrians
make an interesting case. Croatia has improved. The big question,
to which we do not yet know the answer, is whether it is enough."

Austria is punching above its normal weight after joining forces with
Turkey's greatest foe - the Greek Cypriot government. Cyprus wants
a meeting of foreign ministers to demand assurances that Turkey will
recognise it as the legitimate government of the divided island.

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Opposition to Turkey in Europe

Street clashes in central Athens
BBC:Saturday, 17 September 2005, 22:24 GMT 23:24 UK
Police responded with tear gas when anarchists threw missiles
Greek riot police have clashed with left-wing anarchists in central Athens.
The anarchists threw petrol bombs and stones at police, who responded with tear gas.

The violence in the student quarter followed a rally by neo-fascists demanding that Turkey should be barred from joining the European Union.

Right-wingers from across Europe have gathered in Greece hoping to attend a two-day rally, Euro-Fest 2005 - although the government has banned it.

About 150 members of Golden Dawn, an ultra-right Greek party, held a demonstration in Athens on Saturday.

They were briefly addressed by Roberto Fiore, the leader of Italy's Forze Nuova neo-fascist party.


The Golden Dawn militants were ready for trouble, but soon dispersed
He called on Europe to reject Turkey's application to join the European Union.

The demonstrators gave the Nazi salute beneath the red, white and black flag modelled on the swastika.

The BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens says these images are anathema to a nation which fiercely resisted the Germans during World War II.

The clashes began when anarchist militants tried to disrupt the meeting, but were prevented from approaching by the security forces.

The neo-fascists later dispersed, but the left-wingers turned on the police.

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EC: Armenian Conference will be Noted in Turkey Report

Published: Saturday, September 24, 2005
zaman.com


The European Union Conference, EC, reiterated its view on the judicial decision to stop the Armenian conference to take place in Istanbul and termed the judicial action as a "provocation".

The issue will be noted in Turkey’s Report, the Commission officials said.

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Austria Still Insists on Privileged Partnership

INTERNATIONAL 09.27.2005 Tuesday - ISTANBUL 23:14

Austria Still Insists on Privileged Partnership Amid Problems in Opening Statement
By Selcuk Gultasli
Published: Tuesday, September 27, 2005
zaman.com


The European Union, or the EU, barely able to reach an agreement on the Cyprus counter declaration in seven weeks now strives to ensure consensus on the Negotiations Framework Document and on the opening statement of the negotiations to begin on October 3.

The only remaining obstacle to be overcome for a consensus regarding the Framework Document is Austria’s insistence for the insertion of the “privileged partnership” formula into the document.

The text of the opening statement of the negotiations creates other disturbances as well.

The reference to the Supplementary Protocol in the draft statement leaked to the press on Monday has bothered Ankara and some member countries.

The Greek Cypriot Administration wants the reference to be moved to the opening of the statement from the fifth paragraph, while some member states like Italy maintain that if the statement is to refer to the EU’s declaration, that it should also refer to Turkey’s declaration which underlines that Turkey does not recognize Southern Cyprus.

The debate on the opening statement started last week and will continue in the EU Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER) meeting on September 29.

Unanimity is required for the opening statement as well, as with the declaration and the Framework Document. The statement is legally binding and becomes EU acquis communitaire.

In the meantime, Austrian insistence on the insertion of a formula referring to an alternative to full membership, or to an interim solution into the Framework Document has once again brought the possibility of an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers, which reportedly could take place over the weekend if no agreement emerges from the COREPER meeting.

The draft of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw’s opening statement on October 3, apart from referring to the Supplementary Protocol, reminds that the negotiations will be held with 25 member countries, implying Southern Cyprus as well.

It is noticeable that the warning about the judiciary comes first among Straw’s warnings.

Other warning topics are the improvement of the cultural rights, the establishment of EU norms in military-civilian relations, the improvement of conditions in the Southeastern Anatolia and the improvement of the relations with the neighbors.

First phase: Screening process

The first phase of negotiations that is set to begin with a conference in Luxembourg on October 3 is centered on the screening process.

A definite date has not yet been fixed as to when the actual negotiations will begin.

Actual negotiations are likely to begin as soon as the screening process is complete; and that, it is possible for the screening process to take six to eight months to complete, predicted the Commission officials.

Negotiations can be carried out at the same time as the screening process, said Olli Rehn during his January speech in the EU, as commissioner responsible for EU enlargement.

Sections such as science and culture might possibly be set up during Britain’s term presidency, stated the commentaries.

However, diplomatic sources argued, the present political climate has been deteriorating lately due to the refusal of France and The Netherlands to approve the EU constitution.

Britain has been worn down during official discussions about the Cyprus declaration, the same sources also pointed. But they also highlighted the good prospects of negotiations beginning as soon as the screening process is complete.

In the case actual negotiations do not begin to take place during Britain’s term presidency, Ankara is likely to face a more difficult situation under the next-term presidency that Austria will be entitled to, commentaries reveal.

British officials, who spoke to Zaman, are also concerned.

The diplomats prefer to emphasize their first priority as getting negotiations started, adding that it can take a long time, starting with the screening process. They avoid, however, expressing their opinions on whether a particular section will be launched or not.

The Greek Cypriots could not fully be isolated during the declaration-related arguments contrary to the expectations of Britain, claim the diplomatic sources.

Apart from Greece and France, Austria, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic and even Spain support the Greek Cypriots; while Turkey’s position is only defended by Britain and Italy, argue the diplomats.




Brussels

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Danish PM casts doubts on full membership even if Turkey fulfills all criteria

27 September 2005-DENMARK /COPENHAGEN
Cihan News Agency-World

Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen has expressed his doubts about the future of Turkey's European Union (EU) full membership even if she fulfills all criteria - in an article in the Danish daily Politiken on Tuesday.
Denmark had postponed the referendum to be held in the country on September 27 upon the rejection of the EU constitution in referenda held in France and The Netherlands. Rasmussen's article in the paper appears on the date when the referendum would have been held if not postponed.

PM Rasmussen said on the EU constitution," I do not say that the constitution is completely dead, but we must face the fact that two countries have rejected it. But it is obvious that the present situation will not continue like this", said Mr. Rasmussen. Saying that he had some doubts on Turkey's eveentual full membership, he went on to say that full membership was not 100 percent guaranteed even if all criteria were fulfilled.

Stating that the majority of the EU public thought that they were hurrying too fast towards the accession talks beginning on October 3rd, Danish PM remarked on the necessitty to discuss Turkey's membership honestly and clearly. "We have to consider an issue on which the public hesitates more carefully in our position as people who hold responsibility. We should also discuss how fast the EU enlarges and how far the borders expand", he commented.

He also pointed out that the accession talks with Turkey would begin but it did not mean that the negotiations would end with full membership even if all criteria were fulfilled. "It should be discussed in detail not only whether Turkey is ready for the EU but also whether the EU is ready to digest Turkey", Rasmussen concluded.