Friday, Sep 24, 2004
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By Batuk Gathani
BRUSSELS, SEPT. 23. The Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was today engaged in a "public relations and damage limitation" exercise, as he met several officials of the European Commission to address European reservations regarding his country's entry into the European Union. On October 6, the European Commission will give a ruling on the pace and scope of reforms initiated by Turkey to meet the criteria for admission to the E.U. .
Guarantees given
Turkey gave human rights guarantees that set the stage for a recommendation that it should begin membership talks with the E.U. , the top E.U. official in charge of the negotiations said on Thursday. "There are no more obstacles on the table now," the E.U. Enlargement Commissioner, Guenter Verheugen, said after a one-hour meeting with Mr. Erdogan. "There are no further conditions that Turkey must fulfill to enable the European Commission to make a clear recommendation" about when to begin the talks. The criteria are based on a prospective member state's record of initiating and consolidating multi-party democracy, governance by rule of law and economic prosperity based on principles of free market economy. The 25 E.U. countries are to vote in December on Turkey's entry, based on the recommendation by the European Commission. The recommendation would include several conditions that Turkey would have to meet on wide-ranging issues covering human rights and economic liberalisation.
A contentious issue
In an interview published today in the Wall Street Journal, the Prime Minister of France, Jean Pierre Raftering, wonders whether Turkey, with its predominantly Muslim population, should be admitted to the E.U., asking: "Do we want the river of Islam to enter the riverbed of secularism?" The issue of Turkey's admittance to the E.U. is a highly emotional one that has divided the member states. Mr. Erdogan hopes to salvage Turkey's hope of admission in the background of the controversy about the proposed criminalisation of adultery by the Turkish Parliament. The European Commission has demanded a revised penal code and has suggested the scrapping of the controversial bill which would make "adultery a criminal offence." Though the legislation has now been shelved, the issue has split Mr. Erdogan's cabinet, rattled Turkish financial markets and raised questions about the Premier's political and ethical judgment. The issue has also raised doubts about the secular credentials of the Turkish society, which remains deeply divided over ethical and religious issues.
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