Cyprus-Forum.com

[Turkey (( *]

Fair for me, I never wanted to be in EU, no EU the better!!I also think Turkey shoud not be in EU hands.Please reject us

[magikthrill]

Turkey's rebuttle to French PM:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/02/news/turkey.php

[magikthrill]

somehow im thinking that France is screweing the other members plan.

i mean, if they really cared to have Cyprus be recognized then that would have been a condition in the 17 december talks but it was not.

so my guess is that France is quite pissed and is not willing to play the other EU members game of dragging Turkey along the EU membership line and then deciding at the last moment whether or not they will enter the racist gates or be ditched in the mud outside...

[Turkey (( *]

Whatever way it goes, they won't take us in the EU, for now their reason is the Cyprus issue, tomorrow it will be the Army and so on...

[brother]

so my guess is that France is quite pissed and is not willing to play the other EU members game of dragging Turkey along the EU membership line and then deciding at the last moment whether or not they will enter the racist gates or be ditched in the mud outside...

Nice one MT i glad its just not me who can see the racist attitude going on.

[KYPROS-EINAI-ELLHNIKH]

so my guess is that France is quite pissed and is not willing to play the other EU members game of dragging Turkey along the EU membership line and then deciding at the last moment whether or not they will enter the racist gates or be ditched in the mud outside...

Nice one MT i glad its just not me who can see the racist attitude going on.

Brother, it is not racism. You have already been granted concessions other candidates for membership couldn't have dreamed of. Do not complain.

[brother]

Ankara warned over its EU date
By Jean Christou


Government hails French PM’s call for recognition before talks start
France yesterday raised the stakes in Turkey’s EU course by saying it must recognise the Republic of Cyprus before the start of accession talks on October 3.

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin yesterday cast doubt on the start of Turkey's accession talks, just days after Ankara met the final official EU condition by signing an agreement extending its customs union to new EU members, including Cyprus.

Villepin told Europe 1 radio: “It doesn't seem conceivable to me that a negotiation process of whatever kind can start with a country that does not recognise every member state of the European Union, in other words all 25 of them.

"Entering a negotiation process, whatever it is, first assumes recognition of each of the members,” he added.

Asked whether this meant that the start of entry talks could be delayed beyond October 3, Villepin said “of course”, adding that it was “urgent to wait, to wait for Turkey to show a real willingness to enter into this negotiation process.”

Similar statements were made by Austria's deputy chancellor Hubert Gorbach on Monday.

According to a Reuters report from Paris, Villepin did not go as far as to suggest Paris would veto the start of talks, saying France would determine its position after talks among EU foreign ministers in September.

Turkey signed the EU protocol last Friday but issued a declaration stipulating that the act did not signify recognition of the Cyprus government.

The government’s immediate yesterday was that Villepin’s comments were "particularly positive. We have always stated that it is inconceivable for a country that wants to accede into the EU not to recognise a full EU member state,” said government spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides. He said recognition was “a given”.

“We believe that recognition of the Cyprus Republic, on the basis of international law, UN Security Council decisions and the Aquis Communautaire, is a clear obligation of Turkey,” he added.

Asked if Cyprus intended to use the French stance to achieve recognition before Turkey could begin accession talks, he told reporters in Nicosia that every effort would be made “to protect the interests of the Cyprus Republic”.

In a written statement later last night, Chrysostomides said: the Turkish government must recognise the legal and political reality that the Republic of Cyprus was the only state in Cyprus. “The government of Turkey should, without any delay, realise, accept and recognise, on time, this legal and political reality, a fact that will allow her to begin and smoothly conduct its accession negotiations by the international community,” the statement said.

Greece also said yesterday that the non-recognition of the Cyprus, an EU member state, by Turkey, was unacceptable. Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Yiannis Valinakis said: “The non-recognition of the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member state, by Turkey, is a European absurdity,” he said adding that unless it was lifted it would continue to be a shadow over Turkey’s accession course.”

Valinakis said that the Greek government would make its position known on Turkey’s accession negotiations, at EU institutions that will take the relevant decisions and at the right time.

While Nicosia and Athens welcome the French comments, they raised hackles both inAnkara and Brussels.

A Turkish official said the call by Villepin was an attempt to violate commitments the EU had made to Ankara last year. “The December 17, 2004, decision (at an EU summit to open entry talks with Turkey) is clear. It was not a precondition (that Turkey must first recognise Cyprus),” the official told Reuters.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said later he still expected France's support.

The executive European Commission and EU President Britain said the 25 EU leaders had never made recognition a prerequisite for opening negotiations and the Cyprus question should be dealt with separately in a UN framework.

Commission Spokesman Amadeu Altafaj said that with the signing of the protocol by Turkey whereby it extended its customs union agreement with the EU to all new EU member states including Cyprus, Ankara recognised that the EU was made up of 25 member states.|

Altafaj said the French Prime Minister’s statement was his opinion, and was not final.

For Brussels, the recognition of Cyprus follows a “parallel procedure” with Turkey’s accession negotiations, however “at another framework, that of the UN”, said Altafaj. “The negotiating framework which we propose clearly states that progress in the negotiations will depend particularly from the progress made on Cyprus’ recognition in the UN framework.”

EU ambassadors will have a chance to discuss the issue when they hold a rare session in the middle of the summer break on August 17, an EU official told Reuters.

A spokesman for the executive European Commission said the EU should stick to the commitments it made last December, when all 25 EU leaders agreed to open talks with Turkey once it had brought key reforms into force and signed the protocol.

“We must now move forward and open negotiations on October 3,” the spokesman said. “The conditions set by the 25 member states, in our preliminary assessment, are fulfilled.”

Signing the protocol was a step towards recognition in the Commission's view, since it was an acknowledgement that Turkey would be negotiating with 25 states, he argued.

A British presidency official said EU leaders had never made recognition of Cyprus a condition for opening talks, recalling that President Jacques Chirac had said last December signing the protocol did not mean recognising Cyprus. Villepin was then foreign minister.
“To set new conditions with two months to go would perhaps be seen as a breach of good faith,” the British official said.
Diplomats said the French stance, shared by Austria, could encourage Cyprus to be obdurate on the EU negotiating mandate.

Is the EU going to go back on its word as if it does then the rest of the world will view the EU as a group of liars imo.

[sophisticatedbeggar]

Europeans gave up war/threats for cooperation. That is why the EU was formed.

Turkey doesn't seem to be able to think European and with that mentality does not have place in Europe.

ps: What Aegean issue does Turkey have??? Greece isn't claiming Imvros/Tenedos and Smyrna etc.

Very good question fi...

[Murtaza]

what about 12 mil? It is not we demand to expand our territories, but greeks. we want to continue of statu qua

[bg_turk]

Europeans gave up war/threats for cooperation. That is why the EU was formed.

Turkey doesn't seem to be able to think European and with that mentality does not have place in Europe.

ps: What Aegean issue does Turkey have??? Greece isn't claiming Imvros/Tenedos and Smyrna etc.

Very good question fi...

If Greece extends its borders, it would completely block turkis access to the aegan and mediteranean. Why do greeks want to block turkish access to international waters?