Erdogan: 17 December will be a test for the EU

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has paid a visit to France to defend
Ankara’s application to the EU. In French media, he
expressed concerns over the terms of the debate in
France.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is
concerned about the controversy Turkey’s application
to the EU has created in
France.  During a visit to Paris on 19-20
October, Erdogan stated that ”Turkey has done
its homework in fulfilling the Copenhagen Criteria and
that 17 December will be a test for
Europe’.’ ”The European Union must pass
the test successfully,” remarked Erdogan. In an
interview with French daily 
Le Monde

, Erdogan pointed to the fact that Turkey is a secular
country that respects the rule of law within a social and
democratic framework, living in harmony with Europe while
belonging to the Muslim world. He added that “If the
EU is not a Christian club, if it is not simply an
economic entity but rather a set of political values,
then Turkey must be in”. 

Admitting the fact that Turkey’s bid could suffer
another setback, Erdogan said that if the EU says no to
Turkey on 17 December, Turkey would rebaptise the
“Copenhagen criteria” into
the “Ankara criteria” and pursue efforts
to build a world with global peace. Erdogan also
expressed his refusal to conduct negotiations that are
not leading to EU accession. “Nobody has the
right to turn the negotiations into a bag of tricks
from which anything can be pulled out,” he said.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said in an
interview with French daily 
Le Parisien

that he is looking to President Jacques Chirac to
reassure Ankara over France’s backing for its bid to
join the European Union. “I expect a
declaration from my friend President Chirac which would
put an end to all the chatter,” he said. Chirac,
whose ruling conservative party is hostile to
Turkey’s entry, has said France will hold a
referendum on the issue if EU leaders agree it has met
the membership criteria. That is considered unlikely for
more than a decade. Erdogan said EU member states
had not held a referendum on other countries’
accession and added: “Imposing this on Turkey would
contradict the process that has been carried out until
now. It would also be contrary to the Union’s
principles.” 

Erdogan used his visit to talk to much of the French
media in order to win over the reluctant French
public opinion. He met with French Finance Minister
Nicolas Sarkozy as well as entrepreneurs and
political leaders. He also gained the OECD’s backing
for Turkey’s EU bid. The organisation hailed
Turkey’s progress in terms of economic
reforms and said that the opening of Turkish entrance
negotiations to EU will only be beneficial.

Erdogan and other Turkish statesmen are touring Europe
to drum up support for membership of the European
Union. In a report published on 6 October, the Commission
has recommended that the talks begin but has said they
should be suspended if Ankara backtracks on human rights
or political reforms. 

Prime Minister Erdogan is due to meet
President Jacques Chirac of France and German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder in Berlin next week.