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EU's Rehn Presses for Start of Turkish Entry Talks

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  • EU's Rehn Presses for Start of Turkish Entry Talks

    EU's Rehn Presses for Start of Turkish Entry Talks (Update1)

    Bloomberg
    Sept 13 2005

    Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli
    Rehn pressed EU governments to start membership talks with Turkey,
    saying skeptical nations such as France would have dozens of chances
    to veto entry later on.

    The scheduled Oct. 3 start of the decade-long entry process is in
    doubt because Turkey refuses to recognize EU member Cyprus. Rehn said
    every EU government could block the start or conclusion of talks in
    35 negotiating areas as well as Turkey's ultimate membership, adding
    up to 71 chances to wield a veto.

    "That's quite a safeguard," Rehn told the European Parliament's
    foreign-affairs committee today in Brussels. Talks would end "perhaps
    in 10 to 15 years."

    Opposition to enlargement was hardening before the dispute over
    Turkey's diplomatic boycott of Cyprus, one of 10 countries that
    joined the bloc last year. Skepticism grew three and half months
    ago when French and Dutch voters rejected the European constitution,
    meant to help the 25-nation EU function better with more members.

    The Turkish government caused a diplomatic stir in July when it said
    its signature of a protocol extending a European trade accord to
    Cyprus didn't amount to recognition of the Mediterranean island, whose
    northern tier Turkey has occupied since 1974. Signing the protocol was
    a condition set by the EU last December for starting membership talks.

    Diplomacy

    EU governments are working on a declaration that would urge Turkey to
    ensure free trade with the Greek-speaking Cypriot republic. Diplomats
    in Brussels tomorrow will try to break a deadlock over the wording.

    "I can't speculate at this stage about what precise language will
    come out of the ongoing discussions," Rehn said. Still, he expressed
    optimism that the talks will go ahead on time.

    Cyprus will block the start of negotiations should the counter
    declaration be unsatisfactory, Cypriot government spokesman Kypros
    Chrysostomides was quoted by CNBC-e television as saying.

    "It is regrettable that a candidate country does not recognize one
    of the EU member states," Rehn said. "At the same time, we need to
    be consistent. Formal recognition wasn't a condition for the start
    of negotiations."

    Rehn said the dispute could be resolved with United Nations help on
    unifying the island while EU entry talks took place. He also said
    Turkey would have to recognize all EU members before joining.

    Parliament Vote

    Elmar Brok, head of the EU parliament's foreign-affairs committee,
    asked Rehn for a written statement that Turkey's declaration about
    not recognizing Cyprus would have no legal impact on the trade accord,
    known as the Ankara protocol. The parliament is due to vote Sept. 28
    on ratification of the protocol.

    "We need clarity," said Brok, who belongs to the German Christian
    Democratic party opposed to Turkey joining the EU. "Otherwise, we can't
    complete the ratification process of the Ankara protocol by Sept. 28."

    Turkey, a nation of 72 million people, is counting on the accession
    talks to attract record foreign investment to its $300 billion
    economy. It would be one of the two most populous EU nations along
    with Germany, become the bloc's first mainly Muslim member and widen
    the EU's borders to Iraq.

    Human Rights

    Membership talks with Turkey would be in the EU's strategic interest
    by bolstering reform-minded politicians in the country, Rehn said.

    "The EU needs a stable, democratic and increasingly prosperous Turkey,"
    he said.

    Rehn faced demands by some EU parliament members to press the
    Turkish government for more human-rights protection after an Istanbul
    prosecutor filed criminal charges against a Turkish novelist named
    Orhan Pamuk. Pamuk faces up to three years in jail for criticizing
    the lack of debate on the 1915 massacre of Armenians, his publisher
    said Aug. 31.

    Turkey, which fulfilled another EU condition for starting entry talks
    by enacting upgraded human-rights legislation earlier this year,
    is making progress in this area, said Rehn.

    "There have been certain negative cases," he said. "The overall trend
    is still positive."
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