Brussels, 08/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Turkish ambassador to the EU, Mustafa Oguz Demiralp, said on Wednesday that Turkey would not accept any decision by the European Council on the opening of negotiations that did not make it crystal clear that the aim of the negotiations is Turkey's accession to the EU, pure and simple. Any reference to another option, such as a privileged partnership, is 'out of the question and will not be accepted' by Turkey, he said. If this were to happen, Turkey and the EU would move in different directions, warned the ambassador, adding that this would be the end of the road for Turkey and the EU and all cards would have to be re-shuffled, explained Demiralp to the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS).
Some people believe that with a privileged partnership, Turkey would remain in the EU's orbit, but that is not true, said Demiralp. Joining the EU must be the only aim of the negotiation process, he added, noting that why would a candidate country without the aim of joining actually align its legislation with the EU's rules and make all the other required changes in economically important areas like agriculture. This would not be feasible and not very intelligent to boot, which is why Turkey does not want the 17 December decision to cast the slightest doubt on the end objective of the negotiations, Demiralp insisted. The negotiations are, by definition, 'open', but the wording used in the current draft conclusions (prepared by the Dutch Presidency), of an “open-ended process whose outcome cannot be guaranteed beforehand” is damagingly brisk and indicates that there could be a second option, said Demiralp (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.5).
Turkey also wants a clear, precise date for the opening of negotiations in the formal framework of an intergovernmental conference. The wording of the conclusions of the Copenhagen European Council ('without delay') can be interpreted in various ways, but the Turkish government says that two precedents have to be taken into account. Firstly, the fact that the ten new Member States began their accession negotiations relatively soon after the decision taken by the European Council (three months for the 'Luxembourg Group' of 1998, and less than three months for the 'Helsinki Group' of 2000). Secondly, the statement by the former Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen to the European Parliament, whereby negotiations should not start any later than 4 to 6 months after the decision by the European Council. Turkey therefore expects next week's Summit to decide on the opening of negotiations in spring 2005 at the latest, insisted Demiralp. Wording along the lines of 'early 2005' would not be acceptable because the EU would then have to make a new decision about the exact date and Turkey doesn't want a second decision to be necessary. The reference in the current draft text to 'permanent' safety clauses is also deemed 'unacceptable' by Turkey, added the ambassador. Ankara can understand Member States' concerns, particularly in terms of the free circulation of workers, and is prepared to take a serious look at this during the negotiations, but for legal and philosophical reasons, we cannot agree to talk at this stage of permanent safety clauses, explained Demiralp. The tougher conditions set out in the current draft conclusions for the European Council on concluding the negotiation chapters and strengthened monitoring of implementation of EU acquis in Turkey are also problematic for Turkey, because they go further than the idea of 'differentiation' among candidate countries and verge on discrimination, said Demiralp. As for recognising Cyprus, the Turkish ambassador said this problem would only be posed when it comes to signing the Accession Protocol, which would take some time. In the meantime, he said, we hope the Cypriot problem will be solved. Making recognition of Cyprus an additional criterion for opening negotiations would be changing the rules of the game when the game has already started, he said, adding that it was the Greek Cypriots that finally rejected the Kofi Annan Plan for re-unification of the island.
In Ankara on Tuesday, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also rejected any linking of the 17 December decision and the Cyprus issue. Erdogan said he felt the Cypriot question would find a solution within the framework of the United Nations.