Schroeder Says Germany, France to Back Turkish EU Bid
(Update3)
June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Germany and France will work together to help Turkey secure membership talks with the European Union if an October report by the European Commission recommends they should start, said German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
Germany expects the commission's report to be positive and EU members should support Turkey's application, Schroeder told reporters after he and French President Jacques Chirac met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Istanbul.
``We made clear that if the commission report is positive, then at the end of the year we must agree that negotiations will start,'' he said. ``All those who don't want to grant Turkey EU entry should think again. We think there will be a positive progress report'' from the commission.
Turkey, the only candidate of the EU with a mainly Muslim population, says it's done enough to begin talks early next year. Europe's leaders will decide in December whether the nation has met the EU's criteria for human rights and democracy.
Germany's opposition Christian Democrats and French Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy have said Turkey isn't European enough in terms of history and culture to be an EU member. Turkey's population of 70 million almost equals that of the 10 countries that joined the EU on May 1.
`Path Is Irreversible'
``The path now is irreversible,'' Chirac told reporters when asked about Turkey's application. Yesterday, he rebuked U.S. President George W. Bush for calling on the EU to begin the talks, saying Bush had ``strayed into territory that is not his.'' The U.S. and Britain say Europe must embrace a country that is both Muslim and democratic.
``Including Turkey in the EU would prove that Europe is not the exclusive club of a single religion,'' Bush said today in a speech at Istanbul's Galatasaray University. ``America believes that as a European power, Turkey belongs in the EU.''
The start of accession negotiations would draw foreign investment to the country and help lower yields on the nation's $204 billion of debt, the government has said.
The Council of Europe last week removed Turkey from its ``watch-list'' for human rights, a decision the Turkish government has said will improve its chances of securing membership of the 25-nation bloc.
``I don't believe Chirac thinks differently than Schroeder about Turkey's EU candidacy and he was very positive during his visit here,'' Erdogan told reporters on the sidelines of the NATO summit. ``Schroeder is just more open when he makes public statements on the issue.''
Turkish Reform
The government has abolished the death penalty and lifted some curbs on freedom of expression, association and religion. It has also reduced the influence of the military in politics and increased cultural rights for its 12 million Kurds.
Turkish backing for the United Nations' plan to reunify Cyprus also removed an obstacle to the start of talks, the government has said. The Greek Cypriot south of Cyprus joined the EU alone last month after it rejected the UN blueprint.
Turkey, which borders Iraq, first applied to join the EU, then known as the European Economic Community, in 1959. It signed a customs agreement with the bloc in 1995 and became a candidate for membership in 1999.
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