|
Turkey was given a blunt warning today that its
European Union membership talks could be suspended
within months unless Ankara resolves a dispute with
Greek Cyprus.
In a sign that Turkey's 40-year European dream is in
danger of being derailed, the EU's incoming
presidency told Ankara that it would trigger a
crisis this autumn if it failed to open its ports
and airports to Cyprus.
"There is always the possibility to stop the
negotiations," the Finnish prime minister, Matti
Vanhanen, said at a press conference in Helsinki to
launch his country's six-month EU presidency. "I
believe Turkey knows that."
Mr Vanhanen's intervention highlighted the growing
impatience across the EU at Turkey's failure to live
up to its commitment to extend its customs union to
all 25 members of the union - including its
arch-enemy. The EU is insisting that Turkey do this
by the end of this year.
Ankara is digging in its heels and refusing to take
such a symbolic step until the EU ends its trade
embargo of the "Republic of Northern Cyprus" -
recognised by no one but the Turks since their 1974
invasion. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime
minister, flatly rejected the EU demands earlier
this month when he declared: "Don't expect anything
... not on the subject of the ports and airports."
The EU, which had hoped to admit a united Cyprus
when the EU expanded in 2004, is keen to end the
embargo but says Ankara must move first. The remarks
by Mr Vanhanen will be seen as particularly
significant because Finland is one of Turkey's few
champions in the EU. Ankara was granted formal EU
candidate status during Finland's last EU presidency
in 1999.
But Mr Vanhanen underlined his frustration today
when he endorsed the European commission's recent
warning of a "train crash" in Turkey's membership
negotiations. Asked whether he supported the view of
Olli Rehn, Finland's European enlargement
commissioner, who is in charge of the negotiations,
Mr Vanhanen said: "I totally share his view. Olli
Rehn was my assistant before he was nominated [for
Brussels]."
Mr Rehn believes that Turkey's membership
negotiations will come to a head in the autumn for
two reasons. First, he will publish his annual
progress report on Turkey's preparations for EU
membership. This will criticise Ankara for slowing
the pace of domestic reforms in areas such as human
rights and freedom of speech.
Second, the EU will offer its "evaluation" of how
Turkey is implementing the "Ankara protocol" to
extend its customs union across the EU. Black marks
are expected in both areas.
Mr Vanhanen, who admitted that "Turkey will become a
difficult question" during Finland's EU presidency,
balanced his remarks by saying that the EU must
admit countries that fulfill the entry criteria. The
prime minister recently helped to defeat an attempt
by Austria, which relinquishes the EU presidency
tonight, to put the brakes on Turkey's EU membership
application by making an informal assessment of the
EU's ability to "absorb" a new country into a formal
criterion.
Mr Vanhanen made it clear that he would be upset if
Turkey's talks reached a crisis during his
stewardship of the EU. Asked whether he would feel a
personal sense of failure, he said: "Of course,
yes."
guardian co.uk
Top |
® 