Turkey stresses accession benefits for EU

Turkish minister for EU affairs Egemen Bagis talks to MARY FITZGERALD , Foreign Affairs Correspondent

THE EUROPEAN Union needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the European Union, Ankara’s chief negotiator on EU accession has said during a visit to Dublin.

Egemen Bagis, while rejecting suggestions that Turkey’s rhetoric on Europe had hardened in recent months, said there was growing frustration over the pace of the accession process.

He compared Europe’s economic crisis with Turkey’s growth of 11 per cent this year, and said Turkey was “vital” in terms of European access to regional energy resources.

“Europe does need Turkey more than Turkey needs Europe,” he told The Irish Times.

“The cost of having Turkey out of the EU is much greater for Europeans than the cost of having it in.”

Reminded of his recently reported remarks which suggested Ankara did not want EU membership badly enough to make a unilateral gesture on Cyprus, Mr Bagis replied: “We want the EU but we will not give up on Cyprus for the EU, and we will not give up on the EU for Cyprus. We have a just cause on both issues and we will negotiate on finding a feasible solution.”

Mr Bagis accused some EU member states of using the Cyprus issue to “hide” other reasons for opposing Turkish accession, and argued that the same countries were guilty of double standards.

“What Turkey expects is fair negotiations. We don’t want any special favours just because we are a large, economically feasible, dynamic and strategically situated nation with access to such a big market, but we don’t want any additional burdens either.”

The latest report by EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Füle criticised Turkey for shortcomings in free speech and freedom of religion, and also raised concerns over minority rights.

Mr Bagis countered that Turkey would continue with what he described as the “giant progress” made in recent years. “Just as today’s Turkey is much better than yesterday’s, tomorrow’s Turkey will be much better that today’s.” Mr Bagis acknowledged that in several EU states where governments support Turkish accession, including Ireland, public sentiment did not always match the official position.

“The day Turkey completes her negotiations, [it] will be a very different country, and Irish public opinion, along with that in other EU states, will change,” he said. “I would be more worried about public opinion in Turkey.” But Mr Bagis rejected the suggestion that, with popular support for EU membership waning at home, Turkey’s focus appeared to have tilted eastward.

“The fact that we are enhancing our relations with countries to our east does not mean that we are giving up on our national goal to become a member of the EU.

“Turkey was, is, and will continue to be the most eastern part of the west, and the most western part of the east. For centuries we have been seen as a bridge between the two. For a bridge to be dependable, it needs four strong legs – what Turkey is doing is strengthening the eastern, western, southern and northern legs simultaneously. And that bridge is needed by Europe now more than ever.”

via Turkey stresses accession benefits for EU – The Irish Times – Thu, Nov 18, 2010.