It's here - Turkey is allowed to join EU

[Winner]

BRUSSELS The European Union took a huge step towards its most controversial enlargement to date late Thursday night by agreeing to open membership negotiations with Turkey, although with strict conditions.

If the negotiations, which are expected to begin next Oct. 3 and last 10 to 15 years, are successful, Turkey would become the first broadly Muslim country to enter the European Union.

"The time to start negotiations with Turkey has come," José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, said ahead of a summit meeting of European leaders in Brussels on Thursday.

Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of Germany said: "We are here to negotiate the entry of Turkey and I assume EU leaders will agree to open talks in 2005."

Ahead of the summit meeting, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, made the strongest signal to date that his government was prepared to recognize Cyprus, possibly as early as Friday. Turkey's refusal to recognize Cyprus had been seen as the biggest obstacle to opening talks with the EU.

At the meeting late Thursday, the 25 European leaders haggled over the terms under which negotiations could begin.

Covering areas such as restrictions on Turkish migration into Western Europe, and continued monitoring of human rights and liberal reforms, the conditions were set to be the toughest yet faced by a nation aspiring to join the EU.

The final agreement is likely to spell out clearly the procedures for breaking off negotiations with Turkey if the country slows its progress of reforms. The new clauses reflect widespread public unease, which has intensified in recent months, about Europe's embrace of this large, mainly Muslim nation of 71 million people.

However, momentum towards an acceptance of talks with Turkey grew unstoppable Thursday after a series of leaders spoke out in support.

Their interventions followed a vote Wednesday in favor by the European Parliament in Strasbourg and after President Jacques Chirac of France gave robust support to the beginning of talks with Turkey on television in France where polls show a majority of voters oppose Turkish membership.

Ahead of the talks in Brussels, Barroso rejected offering Turkey any "half-way house" or imposing a panoply of "last-minute conditions," as threatened by some European nations critical of Turkey.

Some countries staged last-minute efforts to insert a clause in the draft of the agreement offering Turkey second-class status should talks fail.

But Barroso also called on Turkey to make concessions to win over "the hearts and minds" of skeptical Europeans by committing to European values and by going the "extra mile," specifically by recognizing Cyprus.

A good way of winning the battle is not by having a complicated argument but to take the initial decision to get rid of concerns in some member states," he said. Turkey's accession can't be compared to any other. It is unique. It confronts the EU with challenges that have been unknown with other acceding countries," he said." He added: "This is only the start."

Turkey's main share index rose to its highest level in almost four years on traders' expectations that Ankara would win a date to begin EU entry talks.

The 'yes' represents a victory for Erdogan and his Justice and Democracy Party and will be seen to entrench democratic and economic reforms launched in Turkey over the last few years.

Erdogan has enacted a swathe of reforms in an attempt to meet the EU's so-called Copenhagen Criteria, which insist on a stable democracy, respect for human rights, protection of minorities, and a functioning market economy.

The favorable decision was anticipated in Turkey. Cengiz Aktar, professor of European studies at Galatasaray University in Istanbul, said: "This is a new era which is starting for Turkey. Turkey was cut off from Europe since 1918. Now we consider it is returning to Europe. I expect a burst of joy on Friday."

He said that Turkey would benefit from new EU financing facilities and that foreign direct investment "is expected to flow in."

The decision was also being watched eagerly by Europe's Turkish communities. In Essen, Germany, home to one of the largest populations of Turks in western Europe, Faruk Sen, director of the Turkish Studies Institute, said Turks in Germany wanted the same status as migrants from Greece, Spain, and Portugal - all of whom had been reunited with their homelands in past union enlargements. "Turks think they live in a European country. They belong to the European Union," he said.

But emotions ran high across the Continent ahead of the decision where opposition has stiffened in several countries.

In Copenhagen protesters dressed Denmark's best-known tourist attraction, the Little Mermaid statue, in a traditional Muslim burka.

In Germany, Angela Merkel, leader of Germany's opposition CDU party, remained opposed to the last. Merkel has championed giving Turkey privileged partnership status rather than full membership, and she told the German press she would seek to reverse any positive decision taken this week.

Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel of Austria, one of Turkey's chief critics, said Europe had to be sure it had the "capacity to absorb" Turkey.

Opposition also came from an unlikely source when the Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi said Turkish accession was a "Trojan horse" for Islamic militants like Osama bin Laden.

Turkey's reforms have included curtailing the influence of the army, updating its punitive legal system, and strengthening freedoms of expression and association. In October, Erdogan shelved plans to criminalize adultery after an outcry across the EU

The reforms have transformed the country. Yet Turkey's path towards membership is still likely to be the toughest since Spain joined the EU in 1986. That country also faced deep misgivings from EU members about migration and poverty.

Previous EU enlargements have benefited countries and regions, such as Spain and Portugal. But many Europeans today see Turkish membership as a threat.

Their opposition revolves around the likely costs of supporting such a large, poor nation, but its accession is also seen as being at being odds with deeper integration within the existing union of 25 countries.

So the decision is done. Was it right?

 

[stormbind]

I think it would have been wrong to reject their application, but knowing right from wrong is no easy task.

 

[Winner]

I think Turkey can be of great benefit for EU, but also Trojan horse moved inside Europe.

 

[kronic]

Well, I have the feeling that your (wrong) headline describes exactly the way the whole issue will be handled. EU didn't allow Turkey to join. We just start the negotiations next year (ironically at the date of the German reunification ). But I fear, there isn't a failure-option and it won't be an open discussion.

I think it's a wrong decision.

 

[Yom]

I'm not sure if Turkey should be allowed to join yet, but it probably should be in the future. It may not be perfect, but the government is definitely secular and has made steps to become more democratic and improve its economy.

 

[Winner]

Well, I have the feeling that your (wrong) headline describes exactly the way the whole issue will be handled. EU didn't allow Turkey to join. We just start the negotiations next year (ironically at the date of the German reunification ). But I fear, there isn't a failure-option and it won't be an open discussion.

I think it's a wrong decision.

Misleading headline is there to attract people in here

But in general it is right - EU said Turkey CAN join EU, but after long and hard negotiation. But there is the possibility.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

I didn't know Turkey was a European nation and I'm not being sarcastic.

 

[AVN]

I think Turkey can be of great benefit for EU, but also Trojan horse moved inside Europe.

I can only agree with what you said.

 

[SeleucusNicator]

I'm not sure if Turkey should be allowed to join yet, but it probably should be in the future. It may not be perfect, but the government is definitely secular and has made steps to become more democratic and improve its economy.

The Turkish government is currently run by a Muslim party, so I don't know where you're getting this idea of secularity. In the past, when Muslim parties have been elected, they always made sure to remain secular, because if they didn't, the military would remove them from power. In this way, Turkey stayed secular and democratic while surrounding countries descended into theocracy and despotism. Now, EU demands have taken that ability from the military, and if an extremist party gets elected, nothing is stopping them.

Ironically, the EU, secularism incarnate, may have contributed to the creation of yet another fundamentalist state in the future.

 

[Verbose]

I'm for getting Turkey in, but woted "Hard to say".

A great benefit if it can be made to work, with Turkey as a stable, secular, democratic EU member with a human rights record no worse than any of the others.

 

[Winner]

I'm not sure if Turkey should be allowed to join yet, but it probably should be in the future. It may not be perfect, but the government is definitely secular and has made steps to become more democratic and improve its economy.

Negotiations will IMO take about 20 years and this is plenty of time to decide about compatibility of Turkey and EU. Turkey must work very hard in future to liberalise its society and become more "european". If this is achieved, it will be very good for EU to have another 80 million of citizens and access to strategicaly important Middle East.

But also many things can fail and Turkey may become very dangerous for EU values and culture.

 

[kronic]

The Turkish government is currently run by a Muslim party, so I don't know where you're getting this idea of secularity. In the past, when Muslim parties have been elected, they always made sure to remain secular, because if they didn't, the military would remove them from power. In this way, Turkey stayed secular and democratic while surrounding countries descended into theocracy and despotism. Now, EU demands have taken that ability from the military, and if an extremist party gets elected, nothing is stopping them.

Ironically, the EU, secularism incarnate, may have contributed to the creation of yet another fundamentalist state in the future.

Yes, this is one thing that I've thinking about quite often lately. Why should Turkey remain secular without the decisive role of the military?

 

[Perfection]

I didn't know Turkey was a European nation and I'm not being sarcastic.

Well, it's close enough to Europe, but it's really Asia. Of course the continental boundry between Asia and Europe is really meaningless, it's really just one big continent.

I fully support Turkey's application, I suspect it will be a tad rough at first but in the long haul it could lead the way to a more democratic and peaceful Muslim world, something that would benefit the world.

 

[SeleucusNicator]

At the risk of sounding unoriginal, I will repeat the statements of most other people in this thread: this could help the EU, or it could be devastating to it.

It gives the EU a new source of population, something it needs desperately to remain competitive beyond the next few decades. However, it also brings in a vastly different cultural and ethnic group, and this is never something that increases efficiency (something the EU already has problems with, and, British electorate willing, will continue to have problems with). It is possible that such closeness with European culture will totally assimilate the Turks and make them into slightly darker-skinned Germans or Frenchmen, or it is possible that it will spark a new social counter-revolution that will bring Islamic fundamentalism into Turkish mainstream culture.

 

[Winner]

The Turkish government is currently run by a Muslim party, so I don't know where you're getting this idea of secularity. In the past, when Muslim parties have been elected, they always made sure to remain secular, because if they didn't, the military would remove them from power. In this way, Turkey stayed secular and democratic while surrounding countries descended into theocracy and despotism. Now, EU demands have taken that ability from the military, and if an extremist party gets elected, nothing is stopping them.

Ironically, the EU, secularism incarnate, may have contributed to the creation of yet another fundamentalist state in the future.

Well, as I said, let's see if Turkey is ready for EU...

 

[jonatas]

i think it is inevitable in the long term.... of course it will be difficult and complicated, but in the long run it will be a good thing

 

[eyrei]

Can someone tell me what the EU gains from bringing Turkey into the alliance?

 

[kronic]

@Winner
Well, the way the German government comments the issue, it always sounds as if there can't be any doubt that Turkey will join the EU (just like your thread title suggests).

Schröder's predecessors Schmidt (Social Democrats) and Kohl (Christian Democrats) argued against the decision btw.

 

[Winner]

I fully support Turkey's application, I suspect it will be a tad rough at first but in the long haul it could lead the way to a more democratic and peaceful Muslim world, something that would benefit the world.

Good point. This can be first succesful democratisation and "westernisation" of (almost) purely islamic country and good precedent for other Arab/Moslem countries.

If it is achieved, we can think about another moslem countries joining EU - e.g. Marocco or Tunisia. But I agree this is pure sci-fi in this stage of development.

 

[Winner]

Can someone tell me what the EU gains from bringing Turkey into the alliance?

More power - maybe. The main reason is to stabilize this country and expand. Turkey had been pressing for this decision for over forty years so there hadn't been a way to delay it.