Turkey isn't Fit for EU

novinite.com ^ | 09 April 2004 | International Herald Tribune

[MegaSilver]

France's ruling conservative party opposes Turkey's rapid accession to the European Union, one of its leaders said on Thursday.

The comments followed remarks by France's new foreign minister on Wednesday reiterating Paris's view that Turkish membership depends on a European Commission report later this year, and that it is not yet ready to join.

"We very clearly say no to Turkey's integration into the European Union," Francois Baroin, the secretary general of the center-right Union for a Popular Movement and its third-ranking leader, told Europe 1 radio in an interview.

The government endorses EU expansion "to certain limits, probably Bulgaria and Romania, and after that we will take a look," Baroin said. "Turkey will wait, but it is already cooperating with Europe."

The 15-member EU will accept 10 new members, mainly from eastern and central Europe, on May 1. EU leaders are due to decide in December whether Turkey has made sufficient progress on human rights to begin long-delayed negotiations on its entry.

Remarks to Parliament by the foreign minister, Michel Barnier, suggesting that Turkey was not ready to join triggered a furor in the Turkish press and helped drive Turkish financial markets lower on Thursday.

"The cock has crowed too soon," said the headline in one newspaper, Aksam, referring to France's national symbol.

"When Turkey has fulfilled all the criteria for membership and opened the way to a solution in Cyprus, France drops its mask," the paper said. "The government has declared its true intentions."

But Barnier insisted Thursday that French policy on Turkey's membership had not changed.

"The French government pays attention to all that is said in the internal political debate, starting with the biggest party in Parliament, but our line on this remains the same," he said.

Barnier reiterated that the EU would not make a decision on whether to open EU membership talks with Turkey until the European Commission released a report later this year looking at whether the country had made sufficient progress on human rights. In Ankara, Turkish leaders sought to play down the opposition from France, calling it an attempt to woo domestic political support.

"Various exaggerated words can be said for reasons related to domestic politics," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters, according to the Anatolia news agency.

[SolutionsOnly]

Why not!?! They've met the minimum number of Muslims requirement, haven't they?

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[antiRepublicrat]

Of course they're not fit for the EU. Turkey has a conservative government and populace that doesn't belong in that sea of leftists.

[TopQuark]

"The cock has crowed too soon," said the headline in one newspaper, Aksam, referring to France's national symbol.

Yeh, a premature ejaculation.

[river rat]

When hoisted vertically, the red section of the French national flag is very often forked

Just exactly like their freaking tongues...
The French government and their supporters, speak with forked tongues...

Semper Fi

[navyblue]

I'm torn between saying no to Turkey bacause they denied us passage into Iraq from the north and saying yes to Turkey just because I could screw the French.

Decisions, decisions! Is there no end?