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Turkey ups the stakes in diplomatic battle over EU bid
AFP: 12/15/2004

ANKARA, Dec 15 (AFP) - Raising its tone on the eve of a critical summit, Turkey warned the European Union Wednesday that it would not hesitate to give up its 40-year dream of joining the bloc if it is offered a status falling short of full membership.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, in a frantic 11th-hour campaign to soften conditions for Turkey, drew up so-called "red lines" they would not cross, at the risk of a showdown with EU leaders at a Brussels summit Thursday and Friday.

"Turkey will not hesitate to say 'no' to the European Union if unacceptable conditions are put forward," Erdogan told EU ambassadors here at a meeting on Tuesday, an aide to the prime minister told AFP.

He said that Ankara would treat any offer of a "priviliged partnership" -- rather than full membership -- as unacceptable, along with any offer to establish a special relationship between Turkey and the EU if accession talks fail or are suspended.

The aide, speaking under cover of anonymity, could not say whether Turkey's eventual rejection of accession talks would amount to a withdrawal of its candidacy for EU membership.

"I am not able to say what he (Erdogan) meant, but withdrawing the candidacy may be an option in such a case," he said.

EU leaders are likely to give the go-ahead to start accession talks with Turkey, but Ankara fears tough conditions they are expected to attach to that will ultimately lead not to full membership but an alternative status widely referred to as a "privileged partnership."

The idea for special status is being pushed by some EU members who believe this vast, predominantly Muslim country is not fit for full-fledged integration with the bloc.

EU heavyweight France, under pressure from a public opinion largely hostile to Turkey, says it would like to see provisions for an alternative relationship with Ankara in case negotiations for full membership fail.

"We will not say 'yes' at any price," Foreign Minister Gul told the daily Milliyet in comments published Wednesday. "What we demand is nothing more than our legitimate rights. We will not accept any injustice."

Gul laid down what he described as four "red lines" that Turkey would not cross:

- Negotiations must have as their final aim full EU membership;

- The EU must not oblige Turkey to endorse the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot government of EU-member Cyprus before a settlement is found to the 30-year division of the island's Turkish and Greek communities;

- The decision to open membership talks with Turkey must be clear-cut, and not conditional on any subsequent decision by EU leaders;

- There should be no permanent restrictions on Turkey once it becomes a member.

Observers said permanent restrictions on such basic EU freedoms such as the free circulation of people and labor would erode Turkey's eventual membership to an alternative status, even if it is not explicitly described as such.

"The imposition of permanent safeguards means second-class membership," Cengiz Aktar, a specialist on EU affairs from Istanbul's Galatasaray University said. "Turkey would be right to turn its back to the EU in such a case."

Turkey has been an official candidate for membership since 1999, but its first association agreement with the bloc dates back to 1963.