Brussels tells Turkey to “coordinate” foreign policy with EU

Brussels – Turkey must coordinate its foreign policy with the European Union if it wants to join the bloc, the EU signaled Tuesday, with the release of its annual report on the country’s progress towards membership.

The warning came after Turkey’s increasingly assertive stance took it to defy the EU and the United States in June, by voting against stronger United Nations sanctions on Iran after it eschewed international talks on its nuclear programme.

“Turkey’s foreign policy has become more active in its wider neighbourhood. This is an asset for the European Union, provided it is developed as a complement to Turkey’s (EU) accession process an in coordination with the EU,” the European Commission’s report said.

EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule tried to play down the message when talking to the press, stressing how he and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton had “very constructive and substantive” contacts with Turkish officials.

“We are not referring to just one concrete example. This remark … makes a point that the closer cooperation between the EU and Turkey is an important thing (that) adds value to our accession negotiations,” he told reporters.

Those talks started in 2005, but are progressing at a snail’s pace because of Turkey’s involvement in the Cyprus question – divided between ethnic Turks and ethnic Greek communities – and because of wider EU hostility to the integration of a large, Muslim country into the bloc.

“Negotiations advanced, albeit rather slowly,” the EU commission acknowledged, in reference to the past 12 months. It said Turkey made advances against corruption and took “an important step in the right direction” by adopting a constitutional reform in September.

However, the commission lamented that the referendum-approved changes were not consensual. Secular opposition parties opposed them, arguing that reforms gave the ruling moderate Islamic party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan too much control over the judiciary.

“A new civilian constitution would provide a solid basis for a further strengthening of democracy,” the EU executive noted.

Erdogan’s government was also told to do more on press freedom, freedom of expression and religion, women’s and trade union rights, as well as on integrating the Kurdish minority.

The report also reiterated that “it is urgent” for Turkey to open up its ports and airports to vessels and planes from the Greek-governed part of Cyprus, as stipulated by a free-trade agreement covering all EU members.

Turkish authorities refuse to concede the point until reunification talks succeed between Greek Cypriots – the only side which is recognized as an EU member – and Turkish Cypriots.

Because of this, the EU decided in 2006 to freeze talks on eight of the 35 chapters that make up the accession process. The commission proposed that, in the absence of progress, the provision should be maintained, but not extended to cover even more chapters.

Cyprus and France have informally frozen a number of other dossiers, leaving EU and Turkish negotiators with only a handful of chapters where negotiations can actually be opened and bringing closer the spectre of a complete standstill in the process.

via Brussels tells Turkey to “coordinate” foreign policy with EU | Afro News 24.