Turkish Forum

Tag: Carl Bildt

  • Turkey’s EU membership is not a ‘given’: Swedish FM

    Turkey’s EU membership is not a ‘given’: Swedish FM

    IZMIR, Turkey: Turkey’s prospect of joining the European Union at the end of a lengthy process is not a certainty, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told AFP Sunday, saying efforts would have to be made by both Ankara and Brussels.

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    “Nothing is given in the world. Nothing is given in life,” Bildt, a strong advocate of Turkey’s EU bid, said in the western city of Izmir, a day after addressing Turkish ambassadors from around the world during an annual gathering.

    “It requires efforts by both sides. It requires a continued reform process in Turkey, and it requires a continued open attitude by the European Union.”

    Turkey launched formal accession talks with the European bloc in 2005 but they have made little progress because of the quarrel with Cyprus as well as stiff opposition from some EU member states.

    Brussels has opened only 13 of the 35 policy chapters that every state must negotiate in order to join the bloc. Just one chapter has been successfully closed.

    The talks have stalled over problems relating to the ethnic Greek government of EU member Cyprus, a Mediterranean island divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, as well as stiff opposition from certain countries including France.

    Bildt hoped that Turkish-EU talks would gain a new momentum in the coming year.

    “I do think that there are positive signs, so we will work on that,” he said.

    As a staunch opponent of Turkey’s EU membership bid, France has blocked five chapters on the grounds that opening them would lead to full membership.

    But the French objections came from former president Nicolas Sarkozy who argued that Turkey was not part of Europe.

    Ankara now expects Paris to lift its veto on the five chapters under Socialist President Francois Hollande, elected in May, who has shown himself to be more open to Turkey’s EU ambitions.

    Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis has spoken of mending fences with Paris in a friendly spirit of finding solutions.

    “We are hoping that he (Hollande) would open a new page in the very deep and fruitful historical relations between Turkey and France,” Bagis told AFP back in May.

    For his part Hollande has noted that Turkey would not become an EU member during his five-year term — the road to EU accession is a long one.

    “I think it is too early to tell,” Bildt said when asked if there were signals from France over a policy change.

    “And you will have to wait for the French to state their own position. There are countries where there is opposition but all of the countries are united with the slight exceptions … that we should conclude the negotiations,” he added.

    “And then it will a matter for the final judgement by Turkey and by the European Union at that particular time. But I think concluding the accession negotiations is clearly an interest of both the European Union and Turkey.”

    Turkey is under fire from Brussels for stalling democratic reforms and a lack of sufficient progress in improving its human rights record.

    Ankara however rejects those accusations, and says the EU focuses on shortcomings in the Turkish bid rather than on the reform effort itself.

    Bildt said most of the problems stemmed from Turkey’s “fairly old constitution” made by the junta after the 1980 military takeover.

    He hoped that progress would be made towards the new constitution and the judicial reforms which would address problems.

    Bildt also said he did believe Turkey would join the EU.

    “Yes, I do believe. Don’t ask me when but I do believe it.”

    via Turkey’s EU membership is not a ‘given’: Swedish FM | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.

  • The EU and Turkey: steering a safer path through the storms

    The EU and Turkey: steering a safer path through the storms

    By Eleven EU foreign ministers Published on December 3, 2011

    THE EU is currently focused on the turmoil in the eurozone. That poses severe risks to economic growth across our countries. But these tumultuous economic and political times should not lead to the EU turning its back on its neighbourhood.

    In particular, Turkey is an important partner as a new economic powerhouse for the single market and a growing regional power that could contribute to our shared foreign policy effort. We believe strongly in the benefits the Turkish accession process has brought both to the EU and Turkey and in its continued importance for driving progress towards shared goals such as economic competitiveness, energy security and regional stability.

    Since the start of the new millennium, Turkey has grown in influence and authority as a regional power in the Western Balkans, Central and South Asia and the Horn of Africa. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has been a key interlocutor, not least on Afghanistan where he made a huge personal contribution to last month’s conference in Istanbul. With Turkey as host, for the first time, Afghanistan’s neighbours have agreed to implement political and security measures to underpin the cause of reconciliation. The ‘Arab Spring’ underlines the strong interests the EU and Turkey have in working together to ensure the region changes for the better. We welcome Turkey’s increasing participation in EU foreign policy discussions, where Turkey’s insight and influence have shown how the EU’s global reach can be strengthened by Turkey at a time of global uncertainty.

    Turkish economic growth has been exponential. Turkey is the 16th largest economy in the world and will assume the Presidency of the G20 in 2015. Turkey is the EU’s seventh largest trade partner. This growth has been underpinned by close economic ties with the EU in which 46 per cent of Turkey’s trade is with the EU. More than two thirds of Turkey’s foreign direct investment is from the EU. With growth in Turkey around 10 per cent in the first half of this year, there is enormous potential for the close EU-Turkey economic relationship to deepen.

    Turkey has also transformed its governance, society and democracy. Civilian control of the military has been firmly embedded and judicial reform is underway. The rights of minorities have gradually improved – most recently through legislation helping minority religious foundations to recover property confiscated in the 1930s. And Turkey is now embarking on a new transformation discussing replacement of the current constitution drafted by the military in 1980.

    The EU has been at the heart of this transformation since the new millennium, the accession negotiations helping to guide the Turkish reform process. In support of Turkey’s reforms, the EU has committed technical assistance and funding worth over €750 million in 2011 including work to strengthen democratic institutions, protect fundamental rights and strengthen civil society. Recent progress in the accession negotiations has been disappointingly slow, but Turkey continues to pursue reforms to align its legislation with the EU acquis. We strongly welcome Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle’s “renewed positive agenda” for EU-Turkey relations. This offers new opportunities to reinforce economic relations, deepen dialogue, support Turkey’s domestic reform agenda and combat illegal migration, while making it easier to travel legally between the EU and Turkey. We look forward to working with Turkey on this agenda in a way which complements and supports the accession process.

    Naturally, the accession process places requirements for reform on Turkey. It needs to do more to meet EU standards, including on fundamental rights. In its recent Progress Report, the European Commission noted concerns over how judicial processes were affecting freedom of the media, and that more work is needed to guarantee the rights of minorities. The new constitution is a significant opportunity to transform Turkey further, including by providing a framework to address the Kurdish issue, and we welcome Prime Minister Erdo?an’s commitment to a constitution that reflects the aspirations of all citizens. Turkey is experiencing a brutal wave of terrorism instigated by the PKK that we utterly condemn.

    Turkey must also work to support a Cyprus settlement, and open its ports to the Republic of Cyprus as it has committed to do. A Cyprus settlement would have benefits extending well beyond the island, from aviation safety to more efficient EU/NATO co-operation. Negotiations on a comprehensive settlement have now reached an intensive phase and we welcome the commitment of President Christofias and Dr Ero?lu to work within the UN framework for a successful outcome.

    Turkey’s accession process is of vital strategic and economic importance for both the EU and Turkey. We welcome Turkey’s commitment to continuing reforms to meet its European goal and offer her our full support. Together, the EU and Turkey can steer a safer path through the current global economic and political storms.

    Article was released on www.euobserver.com on behalf of eleven EU foreign ministers: Audronis Ažubalis, Carl Bildt, Edgars Rink?vi?s, Erkki Tuomioja, Guido Westerwelle, Giulio Terzi, János Martonyi, Karel Schwarzenberg, Samuel Žbogar, Urmas Paet and William Hague, the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Sweden, Latvia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia and the UK.

    via The EU and Turkey: steering a safer path through the storms – Cyprus Mail.

  • Sweden’s FM Denounces Parliament Vote on Armenian Genocide

    Sweden’s FM Denounces Parliament Vote on Armenian Genocide

    Carl Bildt tells reporters vote was ‘regrettable’ and ‘serves no useful purpose’

    sweden carl bildt

    Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt (Photo: AP)

    Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has denounced a parliamentary resolution that recognizes the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.

    Bildt held talks with his Turkish counterpart late Friday on the sidelines of a meeting of European foreign ministers in Finland.  He told reporters on Saturday that the vote in Sweden’s parliament was “regrettable” and “serves no useful purpose.”

    Swedish lawmakers by a narrow margin Thursday passed the resolution recognizing the “genocide of Armenians.”  Days earlier, there was a similar vote by a U.S. congressional committee.

    Turkey condemned both measures and recalled its ambassadors from the United States and Sweden.

    Armenians say Ottoman Turks slaughtered as many as 1.5 million people from 1915 until 1923.

    Turkey recognizes that Armenians were killed, but says the death toll is greatly exaggerated.  It says the Armenians died in a civil war that accompanied the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Saturday that parliaments should not try to define history.

    www1.voanews.com, 13 March 2010

  • Sweden snubbed by French President

    Sweden snubbed by French President

    By A. Rienstra

    The issue of Turkey’s admission into the EU has again reared its contentious head, this time over comments made by Sweden’s Foreign Minister, Carl Bildt, who spoke out in support of Turkish membership. This seemingly innocuous statement apparently provoked France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy to cancel an official visit to Sweden.

    Giving just a few days’ notice, Sarkozy pulled out of a planned meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, according to The Local. The official excuse given by the French government was that Sarkozy had overbooked his schedule. However, an unnamed French minister told the French daily Le Monde that the snub was in response to an interview Bildt gave with Le Figaro.

    Both sides deflected the heart of the issue, saying it was just a scheduling problem. Roberta Alenius, a spokeswoman for Fredrik Reinfeldt, told the AFP, “Turkey has nothing to do with this.” But she was quick to point out that the difference in opinion between France and Sweden concerning Turkish entry into the EU was “already known.”

    Sweden will assume the rotating presidency of the EU on 1 July. Sweden is officially in favour of Turkish membership in the EU, while France is decidedly against it. Sarkozy even made his opposition to Turkey a key issue in campaigning for the European parliamentary elections scheduled for 7 June.

    But Alenius downplayed the postponement of the meeting, saying the talks between Sarkozy and Reinfeldt were focused only on Sweden’s priorities during its term as EU president, the economic recession, and each country’s position on climate change in preparation for the December climate summit in Copenhagen.

    Source:  www.icenews.is, 4 June 2009