German Chancellor Angela Merkel Presses Turkey Over Cyprus And Rejects Its Membership To Join The EU?

BBC News, 5 October 2006
Merkel Presses Turkey Over Cyprus

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Turkey to lift its boycott of Cyprus, during a visit to Ankara. She said it was a "necessary condition" for progress in talks on Turkey's accession to the European Union.

However, Turkey's prime minister said there was no chance of that happening until the EU eased its own embargo on Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.

Turkey does not recognise the government of Cyprus, which became an EU member in 2004.

But the EU wants Turkey to fulfil the terms of a customs union agreed between the two, and open up its airports and ports to Cypriot planes and ships.

Germany takes over the European Union's presidency in January.

Mrs Merkel has in the past said that normalising ties with the government in Cyprus is central to Turkey's relationship with the EU.

"It is a problem we must address... It is a necessary condition for progress with the EU negotiations," she said.

But Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "We will never look positively at opening our ports and airports unless the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots is lifted."

Cyprus has been split since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded the north of the island after a Greek-inspired coup.

Decision 'open'
Mrs Merkel has said in the past she favours a "privileged partnership" rather than full EU membership for Turkey.

The EU has said Turkey must make widespread reforms to bring it into line with European conventions before it can join the EU.

Opinion across the EU is split over Turkey, with some supporting its membership but others strongly opposed.

The European Commission will issue a progress report on its membership talks next month.

Warning to sceptics
Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso warned EU countries on Thursday that suddenly blocking Turkey's entry would leave the bloc open to charges of "arrogance or even Islamophobia".

"If you ask me: can Turkey become a member of the EU today, the answer is no. But in 15, 20 or 25 years, who can say what the situation will be in Turkey and in Europe?" he added.

Earlier in the week EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said advocating a "privileged partnership" rather than full membership weakened the EU's credibility.

Mrs Merkel met Mr Erdogan shortly after her arrival and paid her respects at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, modern Turkey's founder.
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Angela Merkel is not the only one against Turkey joining the EU, last week France President Jacques Chirac urged Turkey to recognize World War I-era massacres of Armenians as genocide if it wants to join the European Union.

Turkey argues that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in an internal conflict sparked by attempts by Armenians to win independence in eastern Anatolia.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French Minister of the Interior, and one of the leading candidates for the 2007 presidential elections also opposes the idea of Turkey's accession to the EU - he has been accused of trying to stir up anti-Turkish sentiment just as the EU is considering Ankara's progress on harmonisation.

A top EU official has urged France not to push ahead with a bill which he says could sour relations between the EU and aspiring member Turkey. French MPs are due to discuss the bill - which would make it a crime to deny that Turkey perpetrated a genocide against Armenians - on Thursday.

The most famous person to speak against Turkey joining the EU is Pope Benedict XVI.

Benedict, the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, told an interviewer in 1997 that Islam is organized in a way ``that is opposed to our modern ideas about society.''

Benedict's suggestion that Western culture, based on Christian values, differs markedly from Islam underlay his controversial opposition to Turkey's possible admission to the European Union.

In August 2004, he told the France's Le Figaro magazine that Turkey should be excluded because ``Europe is a cultural continent, not a geographical one.''

``Turkey, which is considered a secular country but is founded on Islam, could instead attempt to bring a cultural continent together with some neighboring Arab countries,'' he proposed.

I personally believe Turkey SHOULD become a full member of the EU (and should become a member ASAP). Next year will be 50th anniversary of the EU's founding Rome treaty and this should be celebrated with pride.

The EU has been criticised by the way it is organised, the amount of money it wastes on the Common Agricultural policy as well as huge amounts of money offered to new members via structural and social funds. If we look at it's success story, we will see that the success of the Union has been in reducing the threat of war, expanding economic development and influence all over the world - isn't that a good reason for Turkey to join the EU?, wouldn't it send a signal that all countries regardless of their differences (including religion) can work as one? - Wasn't that the primary reason the EU was set up?