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EU leaders hail 'historic' invitation to Turkey
AFP: 12/17/2004
BRUSSELS, Dec 17 (AFP) - EU leaders on Friday hailed a breakthrough deal on opening membership talks with predominantly Muslim Turkey as a landmark step that would help bridge Europe and the Middle East.

From talk of avoiding a clash of civilizations to French comparisons of a marriage at the end of a difficult courtship, leaders recognized the deal for what it was: history.

"We have been writing history today," Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told reporters after EU leaders resolved an impasse over Cyprus that had threatened to block a deal.

He added that the agreement, which EU leaders welcomed with applause after a bruising two days of negotiations in Brussels, was an "important and brave decision by Turkey, by Cyprus and by the EU as a whole."

"I can now add that Turkey has accepted the hand we offered them today," Balkenende said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who will hold the rotating EU presidency when Ankara finally launches accession talks next October, said the deal proved wrong those who warned of a "clash of civilizations" between the wealthy West and the Muslim world.

Blair, a staunch supporter of bringing Turkey into the European family, said the deal was "historic".

"It shows that those who believe that there is some fundamental clash of civilizations between Christians and Muslims are actually wrong, that we can work together, that we can cooperate together."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also welcomed the milestone in Ankara's four-decade quest for membership as a qualified triumph.

"We did not obtain all that we wanted 100 percent", Erdogan told a news conference, "but we can say that it was a success."

Erdogan said he was particularly pleased that the target of full membership for his country at the end of talks scheduled to begin in October 2005 was inscribed in the summit's conclusions "unambiguously".

"We have reached a point where Turkey is rewarded for 41 years of efforts," he said, referring to the first association agreement signed between Turkey and the EU's predecessor, the European Economic Community, in 1963.

Erdogan said he was pleased that one of his favored goals, a "reconciliation of civilizations between Christianity and Islam," now rested on a "concrete base."

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said the accord marked a fresh start after tough talks that exposed tensions over key sticking points, notably Turkey's refusal to recognize Cyprus.

"Today is also a new beginning for Europe and for Turkey. The EU has opened its door to Turkey," Barroso said. "I genuinely believe that we have a decision today that is good for Turkey."

"It's a day on which the people of Turkey should rejoice in their new European future," he added. "Turkey has taken its European destiny in its own hands."

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos was "satisfied" with the summit's outcome but stressed the accession talks could not begin without Ankara signing, and then applying in earnest, a 41-year-old customs protocol with Brussels to include the 10 newest EU member states, including his own.

"I am satisfied with the result," Papadopoulos -- who had the power to stall Turkey's bid to join the EU -- told reporters.

"An immediate establishment of diplomatic relations (between Turkey and Cyprus) would have been better, but we must be realistic," he said.

French President Jacques Chirac warned that while the EU and Turkey would eventually forge a "marriage," it would be a long and stormy courtship over the coming decade or more.

"The road will be long and difficult," he said.

Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel also put a damper on the festivities, saying that his country, whose population is overwhelmingly opposed to Turkey's EU accession according to polls, would hold a referendum on Ankara's EU hopes.

"If the negotiations produce a positive result, the people will be consulted before membership," he told reporters.