Home>News Center>World
         
 

EU may clear Turkey membership talks
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-06 14:08

After years of delays, the European Union's head office is likely to recommend that Turkey begin membership talks with the bloc — an endorsement that comes with one key proviso: that negotiations be halted if Ankara backtracks on sweeping democratic and human rights reforms.

If the European Commission's expected recommendation is formally approved by the 25 EU leaders at a December summit, entry talks could begin in early 2005, capping years of lobbying by Turkish officials who say their country could form a bridge between Muslim countries and Europe.

As attractive a prospect as that may be, many Europeans — including some of the commissioners — are wary of admitting Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim country of 71 million people, into the EU fold. Not all 30 European commissioners are expected to endorse the start of talks.

In recent months, several commissioners have expressed skepticism about allowing in a secular Muslim nation with a weak economy and a questionable human rights record, whose population is projected to equal Germany's by 2015 and to be the largest in the EU by 2025.

EU rules say that any European democracy with a market economy and which can adopt the euro as its currency can join. While the EU's immediate neighbors to the east, countries such as Poland and Hungary, were among 10 new members welcomed in May, Western Europeans have not been nearly as eager to embrace Turkey.

Many in Western Europe fear mass Turkish immigration if the country were to join the EU, whose rules permit workers to move throughout the union freely.

There is widespread sentiment against Turkish membership in France, Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands — nations with sizable immigrant populations and right-wing parties keen to exploit immigration issues in electoral campaigns.

A draft report on Turkey's membership bid says that while the country has made progress in building democratic institutions that respect human rights, "deficiencies remain, and it is clear that political reform needs to be further consolidated and broadened."

In his draft report, EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen termed the prospect of Turkish membership "challenging" and unique.

Never before has the now 25-nation EU attempted to bring in a country as big and as poor as Turkey.

"If well managed, (membership) would offer important opportunities" for both Western Europe and Turkey, he said in the report, adding that Turkish membership would boost stability on the volatile crossroads of Europe and Asia.

EU officials say that even if membership talks start early next year, Turkey would not actually join the union until around 2015, giving the Turks and their supporters time to win over skeptics.

"Turkey would be an important model of a country with a majority Muslim population adhering to such fundamental principles as liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law," the draft report says.

Olli Rehn, the Finn due to succeed Verheugen as the EU's expansion chief on Nov. 1, has suggested the EU impose temporary curbs on immigration from Turkey after it joins.

Such restrictions have been imposed on other newcomers, notably on the 10 mostly East European countries that joined in May.

The opening of membership talks would be warmly welcomed in Washington, which as for years pushed the EU to absorb Turkey, a loyal NATO ally that lies on the doorstep of the Middle East.

A key task for Turkey is to show that it is serious about eradicating torture, which Ankara has outlawed but which continues nevertheless, according to rights groups.

Other areas where Turkey must show improvement include freedom of the press, prison reform, treatment of non-Muslim minorities and Kurds, and curbing the influence of the military, which has repeatedly seized power in the last five decades.

The seeds of Turkish membership were sown in 1963 when the EU made Turkey an associate member. That status carries the prospect of future membership, but over the decades European leaders have put off making a decision on whether Ankara should be allowed to join.

In 1987, the EU dismissed Turkey's application. In 1997, it invited East European nations to join, but not Turkey. In 1999, the EU leaders declared Turkey a candidate but gave no date to begin membership talks.

Not until 2002 — 41 years after making Turkey an associate member — did EU leaders say they would decide at the end of 2004 on whether to open entry talks with Turkey.



 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Wen extends neighbourly hand to Hanoi

 

   
 

Facts, figures reveal better life has dawned

 

   
 

Car bomb kills 16 Iraqis near Baghdad

 

   
 

Oil scales US$52 on winter fuel fears

 

   
 

Fireworks plant blast kills 27 in Guangxi

 

   
 

Iran says its missiles can reach 1,250 miles

 

   
  Israelis, American win Nobel for chemistry
   
  Oil scales US$52 on winter fuel fears
   
  Car bomb kills 16 Iraqis near Baghdad
   
  U.S. stretches out S. Korea troop cut until 2008
   
  EU may clear Turkey membership talks
   
  Israel says freezing talks, no Palestinian state
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 污污内射在线观看一区二区少妇 | 好吊视频一区二区三区| 乱子伦xxxx| 特级毛片免费观看视频| 四虎国产精品永久在线看| 欧美色图在线视频| 国语精品91自产拍在线观看二区 | 丰满肥臀风间由美系列| 欧美一级黄色片在线观看| 人人色在线视频播放| 色三级大全高清视频在线观看 | 久久久精品久久久久特色影视 | 国产成人无码精品一区在线观看| 99re5精品视频在线观看| 帅哥我要补个胎小说| 国产一区二区三区不卡在线观看| 羞羞视频在线观看入口| 女人18毛片a级18**多水真多| 亚洲国产精品久久久天堂| 粗大的内捧猛烈进出视频一| 国产亚洲蜜芽精品久久| 三级国产女主播在线观看| 天堂网404在线资源| 中文字幕乱码第一页| 日韩在线视频不卡| 亚洲国产成人久久精品影视| 狠狠色综合网久久久久久| 四虎884tt紧急大通知| 麻豆AV一区二区三区久久| 女人张开腿等男人桶免费视频 | 直接观看黄网站免费视频| 国产v亚洲v天堂无码网站| 黄a大片av永久免费| 国产精品一区二区在线观看| 97精品人妻系列无码人妻| 好男人社区视频| 中文字幕一区二区三区在线播放| 日韩中文在线播放| 亚洲fuli在线观看| 欧美日韩一区视频| 亚洲综合久久综合激情久久|