Turkish Forum

Category: EU Members

European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Turkey on 17 Dec. 2004

  • Should Turkey Join the EU? The View from Europe

    Should Turkey Join the EU? The View from Europe

    Scott Bleiweis | August 11, 2010

    During his recent visit to Ankara, British Prime Minister David Cameron made his stance on Turkish accession to the European Union plain and clear. “I will remain your strongest possible advocate for EU membership,” he said. “Together I want us to pave the road from Ankara to Brussels.” The Belgian government also supports such a position, and has pledged to work with Turkey to make its accession a reality.

    In praising Turkey’s participation in NATO (though conveniently overlooking its blocking of NATO-EU cooperation on security issues), Cameron further declared, “It’s just wrong to say Turkey can guard the camp but not be allowed to sit inside the tent.”

    As Quentin Peel, associate editor of Financial Times, observes, “It was familiar British policy, but spelt out with unusual passion, and very few cautionary words.” The Turkish media also picked up on Cameron’s praise, with the Sabah daily displaying “The EU would be poor without Turkey” as its front page headline.

    Guido Westerwelle, Germany’s foreign minister, is also a strong supporter of Turkey’s EU membership, but got into trouble with domestic leaders in Berlin last January after he “gave his word” as foreign minister that Germany would not actively block Turkish accession. “I want to encourage you [Turkey] to carry on,” he said, though not everyone in the German government agrees with him. Chancellor Angela Merkel has made comments favoring a “privileged partnership” status for Turkey, as opposed to full membership.

    Negotiations with Turkey on accession would remain fair and open, Westerwelle insisted on his recent visit, but the outcome of such talks might not result in full membership. He mentioned Germany’s great interest in having “such a strategically important partner…orientated on Europe.” But in interviews before he left Berlin he talked of Turkey being “not ready” for membership, and of the EU being equally unprepared for Turkey. Not surprisingly, these comments received less attention in the Turkish media than Cameron’s did.

    According to Peel, “in terms of realistic European politics, Westerwelle was closer to the mark than Cameron. He hammered home the message that Turkey still has much to do in terms of judicial reform and guaranteeing minority rights to qualify for EU membership. It is not a comfortable message, but it is necessary.”

    Cameron’s statements were certainly bold, but his “desire to please his hosts” may result in the setting of dangerous and unrealistic expectations. UK journalist Geoffrey Wheatcroft goes so far as to say when “when Cameron, like Tony Blair before him, trumpets the Turkish cause, it only confirms Continental suspicions that London is acting on behalf of Washington.” Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, Wheatcroft notes, are both “openly skeptical” about Turkey joining the EU.

    Peel concludes, “Both Cameron and Westerwelle are right that Turkey should be encouraged to join the EU. It would be of great strategic benefit to both. That does not mean it can be done. Europe’s politicians are going to have to do a huge sales job to persuade their own public opinion that it is a good idea. Making nice noises in Ankara won’t help. The real test will be with voters at home.”

    Scott Bleiweis is an intern with The Atlantic Council editorial office. He is currently pursuing a masters degree in International Studies with the Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Photo credit: Getty Images.

  • UK Proscribed terrorist groups

    UK Proscribed terrorist groups

    These terrorist organisations are currently proscribed under UK legislation, and therefore outlawed in the UK.
    Proscribed terrorist groups
    46 international terrorist organisations are proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000. Of these, two organisations are proscribed under powers introduced in the Terrorism Act 2006, as glorifying terrorism
    14 organisations in Northern Ireland are proscribed under previous legislation.
    List of proscribed International terrorist groups
    The information about the groups’ aims was given to Parliament when they were proscribed.
    17 November Revolutionary Organisation (N17)
    Aims to highlight and protest at what it deems to be imperialist and corrupt actions, using violence. Formed in 1974 to oppose the Greek military Junta, its stance was initially anti-Junta and anti-US, which it blamed for supporting the Junta.
    Abu Nidal Organisation (ANO)
    ANO’s principal aim is the destruction of the state of Israel. It is also hostile to ‘reactionary’ Arab regimes and states supporting Israel.
    Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
    The precise aims of the ASG are unclear, but its objectives appear to include the establishment of an autonomous Islamic state in the Southern Philippine island of Mindanao.
    Al-Gama’at al-Islamiya (GI)
    The main aim of GI is to overthrow the Egyptian government and replace it with an Islamic state through all means, including the use of violence. Some members also want the removal of Western influence from the Arab world.
    Al Ghurabaa
    Al Ghurabaa is a splinter group of Al-Muhajiroun and disseminates materials that glorify acts of terrorism.

    These terrorist organisations are currently proscribed under UK legislation, and therefore outlawed in the UK.Proscribed terrorist group

    s46 international terrorist organisations are proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000. Of these, two organisations are proscribed under powers introduced in the Terrorism Act 2006, as glorifying terrorism14 organisations in Northern Ireland are proscribed under previous legislation.List of proscribed International terrorist groupsThe information about the groups’ aims was given to Parliament when they were proscribed.

    Al Ittihad Al Islamia (AIAI)

    The main aims of AIAI are to establish a radical Sunni Islamic state in Somalia, and to regain the Ogaden region of Ethiopia as Somali territory via an insurgent campaign. Militant elements within AIAI are suspected of having aligned themselves with the ‘global jihad’ ideology of Al Qa’ida, and to have operated in support of Al Qa’ida in the East Africa region.

    Al Qa’ida

    Inspired and led by Usama Bin Laden, its aims are the expulsion of Western forces from Saudi Arabia, the destruction of Israel and the end of Western influence in the Muslim world.

    Al Shabaab

    Al Shabaab is an organisation based in Somalia which has waged a violent campaign against the Somali Transitional Federal Government and African Union peacekeeping forces since 2007, employing a range of terrorist tactics including suicide bombings, indiscriminate attacks and assassinations. It’s principal aim is the establishment of a fundamentalist Islamic state in Somalia, but the organisation has publicly pledged its allegiance to Usama Bin Laden and has announced an intention to combine its campaign in the Horn of Africa with Al Qa’ida’s aims of global jihad.

    Ansar Al Islam (AI)

    AI is a radical Sunni Salafi group from northeast Iraq around Halabja. The group is anti-Western, and opposes the influence of the US in Iraqi Kurdistan and the relationship of the KDP and PUK to Washington. AI has been involved in operations against Multi-National Forces-Iraq (MNF-I).

    Ansar Al Sunna (AS)

    AS is a fundamentalist Sunni Islamist extremist group based in central Iraq and what was the Kurdish Autonomous Zone (KAZ) of Northern Iraq. The group aims to expel all foreign influences from Iraq and create a fundamentalist Islamic state.

    Armed Islamic Group (Groupe Islamique Armée) (GIA)

    The aim of the GIA is to create an Islamic state in Algeria using all necessary means, including violence.

    Asbat Al-Ansar (‘League of Partisans’ or ‘Band of Helpers

    Sometimes going by the aliases of ‘The Abu Muhjin’ group/faction or the ‘Jama’at Nour’, this group aims to enforce its extremist interpretation of Islamic law within Lebanon and, increasingly, further afield.

    Babbar Khalsa (BK)

    BK is a Sikh movement that aims to establish an independent Khalistan within the Punjab region of India.

    Basque Homeland and Liberty (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) (ETA)

    ETA seeks the creation of an independent state comprising the Basque regions of both Spain and France.

    Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA)

    BLA are comprised of tribal groups based in the Baluchistan area of Eastern Pakistan, which aims to establish an independent nation encompassing the Baluch dominated areas of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran.

    Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ)

    The main aim of the EIJ is to overthrow the Egyptian government and replace it with an Islamic state. However, since September 1998, the leadership of the group has also allied itself to the ‘global Jihad’ ideology expounded by Usama Bin Laden and has threatened Western interests.

    Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain (GICM)

    The traditional primary objective of the GICM has been the installation of a governing system of the caliphate to replace the governing Moroccan monarchy. The group also has an Al Qa’ida-inspired global extremist agenda.

    Hamas Izz al-Din al-Qassem Brigades

    Hamas aims to end Israeli occupation in Palestine and establish an Islamic state.

    Harakat-Ul-Jihad-Ul-Islami (HUJI)

    The aim of HUJI is to achieve though violent means accession of Kashmir to Pakistan, and to spread terror throughout India. HUJI has targeted Indian security positions in Kashmir and conducted operations in India proper.

    Harakat-Ul-Jihad-Ul-Islami (Bangladesh) (Huji-B) The main aim of HUJI-B is the creation of an Islamic regime in Bangladesh modelled on the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

    Harakat-Ul-Mujahideen/Alami (HuM/A and Jundallah)

    The aim of both HuM/A and Jundallah is the rejection of democracy of even the most Islamic-oriented style, and to establish a caliphate based on Sharia law, in addition to achieving accession of all Kashmir to Pakistan. HuM/A has a broad anti-Western and anti-President Musharraf agenda.

    Harakat Mujahideen (HM)

    HM, previously known as Harakat Ul Ansar (HuA), seeks independence for Indian-administered Kashmir. The HM leadership was also a signatory to Usama Bin Laden’s 1998 fatwa, which called for worldwide attacks against US and Western interests.

    Hizballah Military Wing

    Hizballah is committed to armed resistance to the state of Israel, and aims to seize all Palestinian territories and Jerusalem from Israel. Its military wing supports terrorism in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.

    Hezb-E Islami Gulbuddin (HIG)

    Led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar who is in particular very anti-American, HIG is anti-Western and desires the creation of a fundamentalist Islamic State in Afghanistan.

    International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF)

    ISYF is an organisation committed to the creation of an independent state of Khalistan for Sikhs within India.

    Islamic Army of Aden (IAA)

    The IAA’s aims are the overthrow of the current Yemeni government and the establishment of an Islamic State following Sharia Law.

    Islamic Jihad Union (IJU)

    The primary strategic goal of the IJU is the elimination of the current Uzbek regime. The IJU would expect that following the removal of President Karimov, elections would occur in which Islamic-democratic political candidates would pursue goals shared by the IJU leadership.

    Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)

    The primary aim of IMU is to establish an Islamic state in the model of the Taleban in Uzbekistan. However, the IMU is reported to also seek to establish a broader state over the entire Turkestan area.

    Jaish e Mohammed (JeM)

    JeM seeks the ‘liberation’ of Kashmir from Indian control as well as the ‘destruction’ of America and India. JeM has a stated objective of unifying the various Kashmiri militant groups.

    Jeemah Islamiyah (JI)

    JI’s aim is the creation of a unified Islamic state in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Southern Philippines.

    Khuddam Ul-Islam (Kul) and splinter group Jamaat Ul-Furquan (JuF)

    The aim of both KUI and JuF are to unite Indian administered Kashmir with Pakistan; to establish a radical Islamist state in Pakistan; the ‘destruction’ of India and the USA; to recruit new jihadis; and the release of imprisoned Kashmiri militants

    Kongra Gele Kurdistan (PKK)

    PKK/KADEK/KG is primarily a separatist movement that seeks an independent Kurdish state in southeast Turkey. The PKK changed its name to KADEK and then to Kongra Gele Kurdistan, although the PKK acronym is still used by parts of the movement.

    Lashkar e Tayyaba (LT)

    LT seeks independence for Kashmir and the creation of an Islamic state using violent means.

    Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

    The LTTE is a terrorist group fighting for a separate Tamil state in the North and East of Sri Lanka.

    Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)

    The LIFG seeks to replace the current Libyan regime with a hard-line Islamic state. The group is also part of the wider global Islamist extremist movement, as inspired by Al Qa’ida. The group has mounted several operations inside Libya, including a 1996 attempt to assassinate Mu’ammar Qadhafi.

    Palestinian Islamic Jihad – Shaqaqi (PIJ)

    PIJ aims to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine and to create an Islamic state. It opposes the existence of the state of Israel, the Middle East Peace Process and the Palestinian Authority, and has carried out suicide bombings against Israeli targets.

    Revolutionary Peoples’ Liberation Party – Front (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi – Cephesi) (DHKP-C)

    DHKP-C aims to establish a Marxist-Leninist regime in Turkey by means of armed revolutionary struggle.

    Salafist Group for Call and Combat (Groupe Salafiste pour la Predication et le Combat) (GSPC)

    Its aim is to create an Islamic state in Algeria using all necessary means, including violence.

    Saved Sect or Saviour Sect

    The Saved Sect is a splinter group of Al-Muajiroon and disseminates materials that glorify acts of terrorism.

    Note: The Government laid an Order in January 2010 which provides that Al Muhajiroun, Islam4UK, Call to Submission, Islamic Path and London School of Sharia should be treated as alternative names for the organisation which is already proscribed under the names Al Ghurabaa and The Saved Sect.

    Sipah-E Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) (Aka Millat-E Islami Pakistan (MIP) – SSP was renamed MIP in April 2003 but is still referred to as SSP) and splinter group Lashkar-E Jhangvi (LeJ)

    The aim of both SSP and LeJ is to transform Pakistan by violent means into a Sunni state under the total control of Sharia law. Another objective is to have all Shia declared Kafirs and to participate in the destruction of other religions, notably Judasim, Christianity and Hinduism.

    Note: Kafirs means non-believers: literally, one who refused to see the truth. LeJ does not consider members of the Shia sect to be Muslim, hence they can be considered a ‘legitimate’ target.

    Jammat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB)

    JMB first came to prominence on 20 May 2002 when eight of its members were arrested in possession of petrol bombs. The group has claimed responsibility for numerous fatal bomb attacks across Bangladesh in recent years, including suicide bomb attacks in 2005.

    Tehrik Nefaz-e Shari’at Muhammadi (TNSM)

    TNSM regularly attacks coalition and Afghan government forces in Afghanistan and provides direct support to Al Qa’ida and the Taliban. One faction of the group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on an army training compound on 8 November 2007 in Dargai, Pakistan, in which 42 soldiers were killed.

    Teyre Azadiye Kurdistan (TAK)

    TAK is a Kurdish terrorist group currently operating in Turkey

    (Note: Mujaheddin e Khalq (MeK) was removed from the list of proscribed organisations in June 2008, as a result of judgements of the Proscribed Organisations Appeals Commission and the Court of Appeal.)

    Proscribed Irish groups

    Continuity Army Council Cumann na mBan Fianna na hEireann Irish National Liberation Army Irish People’s Liberation Organisation Irish Republican Army Loyalist Volunteer Force Orange Volunteers Red Hand Commando Red Hand Defenders Saor Eire Ulster Defence Association Ulster Freedom Fighters Ulster Volunteer Force

  • Millions of outsiders eligible for EU passports

    Millions of outsiders eligible for EU passports

    By GEORGE JAHN and ALISON MUTLER

    BUCHAREST, ROMANIA

    Passport loopholes offered by three EU nations could be indirectly expanding the boundaries of the bloc — potentially giving nearly 5 million outsiders, mostly from Europe’s poorest countries, the coveted right to live and work in the union.

    The possible influx represents the most immediate challenge to the European Union, which is grappling with tight labor markets and a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment. But those numbers could be swollen by millions more — immigrants or their descendants living in other hardship regions who are also eligible for EU citizenship under passport giveaways.

    eu flagNo reliable and comprehensive global tally exists of just how many people living elsewhere are eligible for EU passports. But the figures available suggest such passport policies could put a strain on the EU at a time when most of the bloc’s nations favor putting enlargement on hold as they try to put their economic houses in order.

    EU members Romania and Bulgaria already are handing out passports to ethnically linked groups or minorities outside their borders, and Hungary plans to do the same as of January.

    The main beneficiaries are citizens of Moldova, Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine and Turkey — about 4.7 million people with living standards at a fraction of the EU average whose countries are years away from membership.

    The figure was arrived at by adding up the number of Romanian-speaking Moldovans, Slavic Macedonians, ethnic Hungarians living in Serbia and Ukraine, and the number of Turks who fled Bulgaria to escape a forced assimilation campaign there during the communist era. All are eligible for EU citizenship under passport giveaway programs.

    Others outside Europe and looking to escape hardship at home also are lining up.

    Spain enacted legislation in January 2009 giving even the grandchildren of Spaniards whose ancestors left due to political or economic hardship caused by the Civil War the right to obtain passports from Madrid — and the response has been huge.

    Spanish foreign ministry figures from January say that over the first full year of the law, there were 161,463 applications — 95 percent from Latin American countries — and that 81,715 were granted. Total Latin American numbers are unavailable — but the ministry has extended the window for applications by another year to December 2011, due to “overwhelming demand.”

    In Cuba alone, nearly 82,000 people have applied for Spanish citizenship and 36,415 have received it as of June 30, clearing the way for the lengthy and expensive process of obtaining permission to travel abroad — or leave permanently. Venezuela’s Spanish consulate has handed out more than 35,000 passports over the past three years, including to those who qualified before the grandparents law was enacted.

    Spanish and Mexican authorities were unable to meet AP requests for concrete figures on the number of Mexicans who could qualify, but 150,000 are estimated to be eligible. Of those, more than 14,000 people have been given Spanish citizenship and huge lines of passport-seekers form every day.

    More than 2.6 million people of Italian origin — most of them also in Latin America — already hold Italian passports. And, like Spain, Portugal grants passports to children and grandchildren of emigres — most of them in sprawling Brazil, home to 200 million people.

    Millions more worldwide are eligible for EU passports due to their origin. But for those in prosperous societies like the U.S., there is often little attraction in relocating. It’s the world’s have-nots who are drawn to Europe — and the citizenships offered to outsiders are like winning big at the lottery.

    European policymakers are attuned to the need to replenish work forces as the population ages rapidly. Most EU nations approved a new “blue card” workers visa program earlier this year to lure highly skilled labor to fill growing job gaps — and to pay for pension plans — across the 27-nation bloc.

    But the fear linked to the passport giveaways is that they will attract people with little or no skills who then will burden the system instead of paying for it.

    In a reflection of job and social benefits protectionism within the European Union, Romanians and Bulgarians — generally the poorest of the EU’s citizens — are still required to get work permits in 10 West European EU nations. Austria and Germany have gone even further, placing the same restriction on Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenes, Estonians, Latvians Lithuanians, Hungarians and Poles.

    While all those limits will expire by 2013 at the latest, they mirror the reluctance of rich EU nations to open up to their poorer neighbors — some of the very nations that are now swelling the ranks of their citizens by passport giveaways.

    Even in relatively prosperous Turkey, last year’s per capita income was a quarter that in Germany, where the average yearly earnings equaled over $40,000. Moldovans, at the bottom of the scale, earned an average of only $1,500 last year, according to the World Bank.

    In Moldova, where two-thirds of the population speaks Romanian, approximately 120,000 people now have Romanian passports. And the government in Bucharest says that another 800,000 of the nation’s 4 million people have applied since Romanian President Traian Basescu signed a law eight months ago extending Romanian citizenship to Romanian-speaking Moldovans.

    Romania says it is merely giving back citizenship to people who were part of the country until 1940 when today’s Moldova was annexed by Russia.

    About 15 percent of the country’s 4 million people already live elsewhere, according to the International Organization for Migration. And with a Romanian passport in hand, many will be changing their illegal immigrant status to legal residency — in Romania or further afield within the EU.

    Basescu put that number higher, saying about 1 million Moldovans were working illegally in the EU. “We have an obligation of blood to support them,” he told the AP.

    Other EU countries have been careful not to publicly criticize Basescu and government leaders of other countries extending passports to outsiders.

    Britain’s Foreign Office said the issue of granting citizenship “is a matter for member states.” Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi told the AP that “no foreign minister has opened this subject.”

    But clearly the prospects of a mass influx is a sensitive issue.

    Sarah Mulley, of the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank, says that even though passport giveaways are likely to have a limited impact in Britain, they could influence the already heated public debate about immigration and will “raise questions about how the EU coordinates policies between countries.”

    About 1.4 million Slavs in Macedonia — where the average yearly income is just over $4,500 — also are eligible for EU passports from neighboring Bulgaria, which considers them Bulgarians with a dialect.

    And then there are Bulgaria’s Turks. Some 300,000 fled or were expelled in the 1980s, under a communist campaign of forced assimilation. Although most remain in Turkey, all have either opened a fast track to the EU by reclaiming their Bulgarian passports or have the right to do so — even as Ankara continues its struggle with Brussels over EU membership.

    Budapest, meanwhile, plans to offer dual citizenship — and passports — to millions of ethnic Hungarians outside its borders, including 300,000 in Serbia and about 160,000 in Ukraine — countries with annual per capita incomes of just under $6,000 and $2,500 respectively.

    But it’s the Moldovans who stand to benefit most.

    With her Romanian passport in hand, Larisa Saptebani is leaving for Italy in 10 days to work as a care giver. She has been promised 1,700 euros — nearly $2,200 — a month, a dream wage more than 10 times what her countrywomen earn at home.

    “I can now work legally,” she says, beaming.

    ——

    Jahn reported from Vienna. Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.

    Source: Businessweek

  • TURKEY-EU RELATIONS: AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE?

    TURKEY-EU RELATIONS: AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE?

    coffee futuresWe would like to invite you to our workshop/conference and the screening of the film ’Coffee Futures’ by Dr. Zeynep Gursel from the University of Michigan. The film screening is sponsored by the Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology and the event is organized with the support of the Institute for World Society Studies, ‘Changing Turkey in a Changing World’ (Royal Holloway, University of London) and Netzwerk Tuerkei.

    Title of the event:  “Turkey-EU Relations: an Uncertain Future?”

    Date: 30 August 2010, 1-7 pm   Venue: K4-129The event is open to public and free. For any queries please contact:  Didem Buhari ([email protected])

    Programme

    13:00 Opening remarks by Prof. Mathias Albert

    13:20 Screening of the film ‘Coffee Futures’

    13. 45-14.15 Open debate on the film

    14.15-14.25 Coffee Break

    14.25-16.25 FIRST SESSION: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES: IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE(S)

    14.25-14.55 Dr. Jochen Walter (Bielefeld): Turkey and Europe: inside/outside or in-between? On reading communicative distinctions

    14.55-15.25 Dr. Basak Alpan (METU): Demarcating political frontiers in Turkey: “Europe-as-hegemony” and discourses after 1999

    15.25- 15.55 Omer Ozgor (Bielefeld): The dilemma of religion regarding the Turkish membership of EU

    15.55-16.25 Didem Buhari (Royal Holloway– Changing Turkey) Turkey-EU Relations from World Polity perspective: the case of Ombudsmanship

    16.25-16.35 Coffee Break

    16.35- 18.35 SECOND SESSION: ACTORS, PROCESSES, REACTIONS

    16.35– 17.05 Rana Islam (Erlangen University– Netzwerk Tuerkei) “Turkey’s new foreign policy outreach and its compatibility with EU norms”

    17.05- 17.35 Gozde Yilmaz (Free University Berlin – Netzwerk Tuerkei): Compliance with Minority Rights in Turkey (1999-2010): Recent Revival or Stagnation?

    17.35- 18.05 Gunal Incesu (Bielefeld): Free movement for Turkish workers? Germany-Europe-Turkey and the question of free movement for Turkish workers

    18.05-18.35 Baris Gulmez (Royal Holloway – Changing Turkey): Understanding Euroskepticism in Turkey

    18.35-19.05 M. Sezer Ozcan (Bielefeld): The Historical Evolution of Turkey’s Europeanization Process

    How to get here:

    Bielefeld is easy to reach (see below) both by car and by train: every hour an intercity train on the route from Cologne/Bonn to Berlin stops at Bielefeld Hbf. Then you take Stadtbahnlinie 4 [Lohmannshof] till Universität (7 minutes).

    For maps, please click here.

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  • David Cameron backs Turkey’s EU bid

    David Cameron backs Turkey’s EU bid

    Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will fight for Turkey to become a member of the European Union as he addressed business leaders in the country’s capital Ankara.

    davidcameron1

    The PM said Turkey’s economic rise was an opportunity for other EU states, not a threat, and also highlighted the nation’s contribution to the NATO effort in Afghanistan.

    Mr Cameron said he wanted to establish a new partnership between Britain and Turkey because it was “vital” for the UK economy, security and politics.

    The PM said:

    “When I think about what Turkey has done to defend Europe as a NATO ally, and what Turkey is doing today in Afghanistan alongside our European allies, it makes me angry that your progress towards EU Membership can be frustrated in the way that it has been. My view is clear. I believe it’s just wrong to say that Turkey can guard the camp but not be allowed to sit in the tent.

    “So I will remain your strongest possible advocate for EU membership and for greater influence at the top table of European diplomacy. This is something I feel very strongly, very passionately about. Together, I want us to pave the road from Ankara to Brussels.”

    Mr Cameron added that Turkey could be a “unifier” because of its links to both East and West and called on the country’s government to “push forward aggressively” with the EU reforms it is already making to help its bid for membership.

    Later, the PM met Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks and signed a new Strategic Partnership document setting out how the two Governments will intensify relations in a range of areas, including trade, defence, and culture.

    • Listen to the joint press conference

    Earlier, Mr Cameron laid a wreath at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern secular Turkey.

    The visit to Turkey is only Mr Cameron’s fifth bilateral overseas visit since becoming Prime Minister, following trips to France, Germany, Afghanistan and last week’s visit to the US.

    Listen to the speech

    Speeches and transcripts: PM’s speech in Turkey

    Speeches and transcripts: Press conference with Turkish PM

    The Prime Ministers Office

    Number 10

  • CYPRUS: WHAT PEACE?

    CYPRUS: WHAT PEACE?

    by Rauf R.DENKTAS
    “Peace is not merely the absence of war, but presence of the rule
    of law, justice democracy and human rights” is the view of Mr. Andreas
    S.Kakouris who is accepted by the US Government as “the ambassador
    of the Republic of Cyprus to the United States”, and he laments “all of
    these elements are missing because of the continuing Turkish occupation
    of nearly 37 percent of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus and
    massive violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the direct
    result of an armed illegal invasion by Turkey in 1974;”(!)
    Since, Mr. Kakouris is championing “the rule of law, justice,
    democracy and human rights” it becomes relevant to query his
    credentials as “the ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to the United
    Nations”. I am sure both Kakouris himself and the US authorities who
    have accepted him as “the ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to the
    United states” know too well, that this appointment is flawed from a
    legal point of view because the consent and signature of the Turkish
    Cypriot Vice-President of the Republic of Cyprus, whose existence was
    denied by Archbishop Makarios back in 1963 when he declared that he
    no longer recognized a vice-president because all aspects of the 1960
    constitution which had established a partnership Republic between the
    Turkish and Greek Cypriots had been changed was rejected by the Greek
    Cypriot Administration (the usurpers of the title of the Republic since
    1963) as from that date. Turkish Cypriot partner community was offered
    minority status: They could only come back to the “Cypriot fold” if only
    they accepted minority rights in a Greek Cypriot Cyprus.
    In other words the usurpers of power in the island had put
    themselves in a position which could not be defended constitutionally,
    legally or morally. In fact the onslaught on Turkish Cypriots was for
    uniting the island with Greece the prohibition of which was the essence
    of the 1960 Agreements! In other words, long before Turkey came to
    Cyprus as a guarantor, in order to prevent the declaration of Enosis and
    the destruction of the Turkish Cypriot partner, it is the Greek Cypriot
    leaders and their government who defied the rule of law, justice,
    democracy and human rights, by destroying the partnership Republic in
    the name of Enosis.
    The fact that in this era of big-power politics, the rule of law and
    constitutionality of appointments can be easily and lamentably ignored,
    does not absolve Mr. Kakouris from his obligation to be truthful while
    projecting the Cyprus problem to the world.
    The title of his article to CNN on July 9, 2010 is “Cyprus is not at
    peace with Turkey” and naturally his story begins with the arrival of
    guarantor Turkey in July 1974. Forgetting that Turkey intervened in
    order to prevent Enosis and protect Turkish Cypriot partner from further
    atrocities. The amnesia of the ambassador “to the events between
    December 1963 and July 1974” is a national disease but even this does
    not give the ambassador a free license to lie to the world at large. This is
    not a wild accusation-anyone who conveniently forgets the beginning of
    a true story and tells his own version of it may be a good story-teller but
    his lies will soon be discovered by truly interested, independent
    observers. A cursory look at the Genocide Files by Gibbons, a four
    hundred plus page book and a look at the Akritas Plan will suffice to put
    Mr. Kakouris on the top-list of story-tellers in the world. But, after all,
    that is what he is paid for by his masters back at home, called “the
    Republic of Cyprus” which in fact is what is left of this partnership
    Republic after Greek Cypriot side destroyed it in the name of Enosis.
    The Turkish intervention in 1974 did not only prevent the
    declaration of Enosis, by the arch-murderer Nicos Sampson, but it also
    saved thousands of AKEL members from summary execution while it put
    an end to the colonel’s rule in Athens; that, 20th July 1974 was, in fact,
    the day Turkish Cypriots were saved from mass graves or from forced
    migration as in the case of the island of Crete in 1900’s is an undeniable
    fact in the light of Makarios’ statement that “if Turkey comes to save the
    Turkish Cypriots, Turkey will find no Turkish Cypriot to save”.
    By the time Turkish soldiers moved to the Famagusta area the
    unarmed civilians of Muratağa, Sandallar and Aloa, were killed and
    buried in mass graves, without sparing 16 day old babies, one to
    fourteen year old children and grand parents in their eighties or nineties.
    Until saved by Turkey, 40,000 of Turkish Cypriots, the inhabitants
    of 103 villages, who had fled to safer areas were forced to live in 3% of
    the area of Cyprus, denied all their constitutional and human rights from
    1963 to 1975. How can Mr. Kakouris talk about denial of Justice to his
    people, just because Turkey, acting under the Treaties of 1960 saved
    Turkish Cypriots from this fate and prevented the handing over of the
    island to Greece?
    “Peace is not merely the absence of war”, true! But in the case of
    Cyprus peace between the two ex-partners requires absolute honesty
    about the causes of the conflict and not story tellers trying to convince
    the world that a Greek Cyprus has been occupied by Turkey. What is
    needed is a permanent settlement, therefore putting an end to these lies
    and allowing the two ex-partners to live in security in their respective
    states while agreeing to cooperate on matters of mutual interest is the
    way to a permanent settlement. Good neighbourliness is the ultimate
    answer!