Membership postponed” “

MEP of Turkish origin, elected in the lists of the German Social Democratic Party, Ozan Ceyhun is a member of the joint EP-Turkish Parliament interparliamentary Commission. SirEurope met him for an analysis of the Turkish situation after the Commission’s recommendations on enlargement which do not envisage the beginning of membership negotiations for the time being. Also presented below is a brief summary of the criteria that Turkey would first have to meet if it is to join the EU. Why did the European Commission not announce the beginning of membership negotiations with Turkey? “Turkey is not yet ready. The criteria laid down at Copenhagen in 1993 have not yet been fully met and that’s the fundamental reason why Brussels cannot yet fix a date for Turkey’s membership. Once the Copenhagen criteria are respected, negotiations could then begin in a matter of days”. Human rights and defence of minorities: what’s the situation today? “A few days ago I was in Istanbul for a conference also attended by the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew and the Armenian patriarch. Both took the view that the EU ought to fix a date for the beginning of negotiations, since the problems with the ethnic minorities are in the process of being resolved. On the other hand, the question of human rights violations is far from having been overcome. The Turkish police must improve its training and its conduct; being badly paid and badly trained have as their consequence the maltreatment of people”. As for Cyprus, the EU has made it known that it prefers the membership of a united island… “The European Union does not want a second Berlin. The Republic of Cyprus has undoubtedly deserved membership. The Greek presidency, in the course of the Salonika summit next year, could achieve the objective of fixing a date for the beginning of negotiations with Turkey. This would be a kind of ‘present’ of the Greeks to the Turks to unblock the situation. Ankara is apparently concentrated on enlargement and could decide to ‘leave’ Cyprus. And as for the reunification of Cyprus, it might be possible to envisage a federalist model following Belgium’s example”. When can Turkey be expected to join the EU? “It’s not only the problem of human rights that first has to be solved in Turkey. The economy, for instance, is far from sound. Turkey may be governed by a European and Europeanist elite, but the majority of the population are neither the one nor the other. And the growth of the Islamic party threatens the process of drawing closer to Europe. Parliamentary elections are due to be held in Turkey on 3 November, and a possible victory of the Islamic party that would enable it to govern alone is on the cards. That would be a situation that the EU would scarcely welcome”.