26 May 2004

1. "Turkey's bid for EU: touchy question", EU leaders will decide in December whether to start membership negotiations with Turkey - a Muslim country and Nato member, which has been knocking on the Union's doors for decades but whose entry application was only formally accepted by the EU in 1999.

2. "Merkel: E.U. Cannot Afford to Include Turkey", German Christian Democrat Union Party (CDU) Leader, Angela Merkel, has said that the European Union (EU) cannot afford to include such a big country as Turkey.

3. "Patten urges debate on Turkey", the European Union must hold an honest debate about whether Turkey can start membership talks, Chris Patten urged yesterday.

4. "Turkey to boost ties with Palestinians, defends water deal with Israel", Turkey said Tuesday it was preparing to boost cooperation with the Palestinians, and criticized Israel, its main regional ally, over increasing violence in the Middle East.

5. "Turkey ready for EU negotiations: Yakis", the EU would have trouble explaining why it has not given Ankara a date to start accession talks after Turkey has met the conditions of the Copenhagen criteria, the former Foreign Minister said.

6. "Batman Women’s Platform: Women killings have reach alarming levels", Batman Women’s Platform condemned the honor killing of 14 year old Nuran Halitogullari, Women’s Platform Spokeswomen Beyhan Akisin stated that the “violence and killing against women have reached alarming levels.”

1. - Business Times - "Turkey's bid for EU: touchy question":

26 May 2004 / by SHADA ISLAM

THE European Union's transformation on May 1 from an exclusive 15-member club of prosperous Western European countries to a bigger, more diverse union of 25 nations, including eight former communist states, marked the beginning of a new era for a once-divided continent.

But the new and rapidly changing EU faces even more historic changes ahead. EU leaders will decide in December whether to start membership negotiations with Turkey - a Muslim country and Nato member, which has been knocking on the Union's doors for decades but whose entry application was only formally accepted by the EU in 1999. Europeans have spent the last few years giving what EU external relations commissioner Chris Patten recently described as 'halting, embarrassed and obfuscatory answers' to Ankara's entry request. But the EU's seriousness about the need to build bridges between the West and Islam will depend on how it responds to Turkey's membership bid.

EU treaties underline that membership of the Union is open to any European country that respects the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law. That naturally raises two questions: first, is Turkey European? And secondly, does it respect the principles that Europeans profess to hold dear?

Few can deny that Turkey has resolutely steered a European course ever since Kamal Ataturk decreed the end of the Sultanate in 1922. The feeling runs deep, and is promoted with unrelenting vigour by successive Turkish governments. Does Turkey respect EU principles? Certainly, the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is working harder than ever to meet EU political standards for membership by stepping up constitutional reform designed to entrench democracy, promote the protection of minorities, and limit the role of the military in government.

Yet European opinion on Ankara's entry bid remains fiercely divided, with politicians across the bloc locked in bitter battle over whether Turkey is too big, too poor, too neglectful of human rights - and too Muslim and Asian - to join the Union.

Religion remains an important issue. The religious debate has picked up momentum in recent weeks as EU governments study calls for references to Europe's Christian heritage to be included in the new Constitution being debated by the bloc. Italy, Poland and Portugal are adamant that the new EU treaty must not ignore Christianity. Others, including Britain, France and Germany, warn that references to one religion must be balanced by equal mention of the influence of Islam, Judaism and secularism on European society.

More practically, many argue that the entry of a country as big as Turkey will destabilise current EU power politics, giving the country as many votes as current EU giant Germany in the bloc's decision-making machinery. Significantly, however, arguments in favour of Turkish membership are beginning to gain ground. Senior EU policymakers and many independent analysts insist that the EU, seeking to compete with the US and emerging powers like China and India, must acquire more territory, more people - especially young people - and more soldiers.

There is a growing sentiment that opening the doors to Ankara will prove that EU calls for a dialogue between the West and Islam are not mere fiction. Striving to keep the debate as objective as possible, the Commission has promised to deliver a 'factual' assessment of Turkey's membership bid to EU leaders this autumn. But the already heated debate on Turkey is getting even more acrimonious ahead of elections to the European Parliament in mid-June. Hoping to capitalise on rising public fears over Islamic radicalism and the presence of Muslim migrants in Europe, rightist and conservative parties are deliberately stirring passions over Turkey.

This appears to be especially the case in Germany. But French centre-right politicians including President Jacques Chirac who were once viewed as stalwart defenders of Turkish membership of the EU also appear to be having second thoughts. Short-term political gains aside, most EU watchers agree that come November the bloc's leaders will find it impossible to disappoint Ankara by saying no to opening entry talks.

Turkish entry into the Union may be unlikely for another 10 to 15 years but an outright EU 'no' would ruin Europe's international standing - especially in the Muslim world.

* The writer is BT's Brussels correspondent

2. - Zaman - "Merkel: E.U. Cannot Afford to Include Turkey":

25 May 2004

German Christian Democrat Union Party (CDU) Leader, Angela Merkel, has said that the European Union (EU) cannot afford to include such a big country as Turkey. Merkel has said earlier today at her Party's meeting in Berlin the following:

"We are the friends of Turks who live in Germany. They have been living here for three or four generations. We want them to learn German and feel at home. However, on the other hand, we want to tell the truth. E.U. cannot afford to include Turkey. That is beyond us."

She said she conveyed the reality to Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan during her visit to Ankara. "We didn't close the door to Turkey. We have important relations with Turkey and for this reason we offer them a privileged partnership. We cannot give free transition right now and cannot open the free market to Turkey. It is wrong for German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, to give Turkey hope."

3. - The Guardian - "Patten urges debate on Turkey":

BRUSSELS / 25 May 2004 / by Ian Black

The European Union must hold an honest debate about whether Turkey can start membership talks, Chris Patten urged yesterday.

The EU's external relations commissioner said the time had come to give a straight answer to the question that has troubled Europe for more than 30 years.

The European commission is to recommend in the autumn whether the secular Muslim state can start negotiations. The 25 member states will make up their minds at the December summit.

"We cannot help but be conscious of the symbolism, at this time, of reaching out a hand to a country whose population is overwhelmingly Muslim," Mr Patten said.

But he made clear he did not think it should be able to join at any price.

Turkey first applied to join the then EEC in 1963, but only in 1999 was it recognised as a candidate.

It has made great progress on democracy and human rights in recent years but felt sidelined after the 10 new countries joined the EU earlier this month.

Britain is a keen advocate of Turkish membership while the US wants its loyal Nato ally in for wider strategic reasons.

The UK argues that accepting Turkey would signal to the Islamic world that the EU is not a "Christian club".

But there is strong opposition, especially in France and Germany. If Turkey, with 70 million people, did join, it would be the EU's second largest member state after Germany.

Mr Patten used a speech in Oxford last night to argue that the decision on Turkey would "say a great deal about how we see ourselves and want to be seen, in terms both of culture and of geopolitics".

It was not just about religion, he argued: "Turkey is not Islam, or an Arab state.

"We need to open the debate, recognising that the beginning of negotiations with Turkey would lead to a very different Turkey and very different relations between Europe and the Islamic world."

Mr Patten was scathing about the US intervention in Iraq and the "downward spiral of death and destruction" between Israelis and Palestinians.

But he agreed with Mr Blair it was not honourable for the US and Britain to leave Iraq now.

"We cannot salve our consciences by thinking we have dealt a blow for multilateralism by dumping Iraq in the lap of the UN before we bolt for home."

But modernisation in the Arab world had to be carried out by Arab countries themselves, Mr Patten said.

"If democratic modernisation looks like a western tactic for securing our own interests, we risk discrediting the ideas in which we believe and turning our Arab friends who share the same ideas into seeming stooges.

"You cannot impose a free society through military might, spreading democracy through the region in the tracks, as it were, of Jeffersonian tanks."

4. - AFP - "Turkey to boost ties with Palestinians, defends water deal with Israel":

ANKARA / 25 May 2005

Turkey said Tuesday it was preparing to boost cooperation with the Palestinians, and criticized Israel, its main regional ally, over increasing violence in the Middle East.

The Ankara government, however, defended economic cooperation with the Jewish state, particularly planned water exports, as it hosted Israel's infrastructure minister.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told parliament that Turkey was planning to increase economic, social and cultural cooperation with the Palestinians and that it had appointed a special representative to oversee such efforts.

He said a detailed statement on the issue would be made later. Gul lashed out at Israel for its bloody operations in the Gaza Strip, which claimed many civilian lives, and condemned also Palestinian violence.

"We are worried that if these (incidents) continue, the situation will go out of control and pave the way for a climate with unpredictable consequences," he said during a parliamentary debate on developments in the Middle East and Iraq.

Last week, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Israel's military operations as "state terror" and Gul warned that bilateral ties would suffer.

Turkey, a mainly Muslim but strictly secular non-Arab nation, has been Israel's chief ally in the turbulent Middle East since 1996 when the two nations signed a military cooperation accord, much to the anger of Arab nations and Iran.

As Turkish legislators blasted Israel in parliament, visiting Israeli Infrastructure Minister Joseph Paritzky sought to show that bilateral relations, at least in the economic field, are on track.

Paritzky and Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler witnessed the signing of a multi-billion-dollar deal between Turkish conglomerate Zorlu Holding and Dorad Energies of Israel for the construction of a power station in Israel.

They also discussed planned Turkish exports of water to Israel, the inauguration of which is awaiting Israel's decision on how the water will be transported. Guler defended the deal as a contribution to reconciliation in the Middle East.

"We see these efforts as an instrument for bringing stability and peace in the region," he told reporters, according to Anatolia news agency.

Back in parliament, the government came under fire from the opposition for failing to put enough pressure on Israel to abandon its heavy-handed policies against the Palestinians.

"Children are being killed. Our reaction should not have been that feeble," opposition deputy Onur Oymen said.

5. - MSNBC - "Turkey ready for EU negotiations: Yakis":

The EU would have trouble explaining why it has not given Ankara a date to start accession talks after Turkey has met the conditions of the Copenhagen criteria, the former Foreign Minister said.

26 May 2004

Turkey was ready to start full membership negotiations with the European Union, the chairman of the Turkish Parliamentary EU Adjustment Commission said on Tuesday.

Turkey was far in advance of many of the new EU members both in terms of economic and political development, Commission head Yasar Yakis said while attending the 10th Thessaloniki Forum Conference in Greece.

However, it was vital that Turkey fully implement the reforms that the parliament has passed in order to comply with the EU’s membership requirements.

While the violation of laws was in question in Turkey, as was the case in all other EU member countries, the government in no way would tolerate the breaking of the law.

Though the EU’s Helsinki summit had decided that Turkey would be treated equally with the other candidate countries and Copenhagen summit declared Turkey would commence membership in 2004 as long as it meets the accession criteria, Yakis said Turkey was not being treated in the same manner as other candidate countries.

The Copenhagen criteria was a precondition for full membership, not for starting of negotiations, he said.

Turkey had already met the Copenhagen criteria and the EU would have difficulty in explaining why membership negotiations did not start despite everything that has been done so far, Yakis said.

6. - Human Rights Express (Switzerland) - "Batman Women’s Platform: Women killings have reach alarming levels":

BATMAN / 26 May 2004

Batman Women’s Platform condemned the honor killing of 14 year old Nuran Halitogullari, Women’s Platform Spokeswomen Beyhan Akisin stated that the “violence and killing against women have reached alarming levels.”

Batman Women’s Platform consists of HRA (Human Rights Association), Education-Union, Bahar Cultural Centre, Tum Bel-Union, TUHAY-DER (Families in Soldiraty and Support with Prisoners and Detainees), DEHAP (People’s Democracy Party), Ozgur (Free) Party, made a statement in HRA Batman Office. (…)

Aksin reminded that in Istanbul a 14 year girl named Nuran Halitogullari was abducted and raped and then strangled and killed with a cable, stating that, “The killers of the incident in Istanbul, N.I who was mentally ill and forced into prostitution and Meryem Yildiz who was also abducted and killed have not yet been found. The clouds on the murder cases have not been lifted.”

‘Let’s find a joint solution to this bleeding wound’

Aksin called on all the public to be sensitive on the issue of violence against women, stated that, “We as Batman Women’s Platform condemn this incident and the life that is enforced by the system. We call on our people to be sensitive, the state officials to do their duty and for the public to find a joint solution to this bleeding wound.”

’The murders have become legitimized’

HRA Batman Office President Saadet Becerkli who responded the questions of the press expressed that the state officials not trying to prevent prostitution and honor killings is thought provoking, stating the following: “There needs to urgent precautions taken on honor killings that have increased lately and the legitimization of this by the public.”