New tensions over Turkey's EU membership bid

EU ambassadors meet today in an effort to overcome differences that threaten to derail the start of Turkey’s formal EU membership negotiations – with opposition from Austria appearing to be the biggest obstacle.

Only days before the scheduled start of talks in Luxembourg next week, new strains have increased tensions with Turkey.

The European Parliament, frustrated over Turkey’s refusal to recognise EU-member Cyprus, voted yesterday to postpone a vote to ratify Turkey’s customs union with the EU, a requirement of membership. The lawmakers also called on Ankara to recognise the 1915-1923 killings of Armenians as genocide, which Turkey vehemently denies.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately dismissed the non-binding European resolution on the extremely sensitive Armenian issue, saying, “It does not matter whether they took such a decision or not. We will continue on our way,” according to private CNN-Turk television.

The membership talks will be a milestone for Europe and predominantly Muslim Turkey, which has been knocking on the EU’s door since 1963. EU leaders agreed to open accession talks with Turkey last year.

The ambassadors are working to overcome the final disagreements because the 25-member EU must agree unanimously on a negotiating mandate to present to Turkey at the talks. Failure would lead to a rupture in already tense relations between Ankara and Brussels.

Austria says its people – and many others across the bloc – do not support full membership for Turkey and is demanding that Ankara be given the option of privileged partnership rather than full membership. Turkey has already rejected anything less than full membership talks.

Austria is also linking the Turkey talks with its wish to see the EU do more to review Croatia’s now-frozen efforts to join the bloc. Vienna argues that membership for its Balkan neighbour will help stabilise the region.

The Croatia talks were frozen earlier this year after the EU said Zagreb was not fully co-operating with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague to hand over a top indicted war crimes suspect.

Britain, which holds the rotating EU presidency, is loath to link Croatia’s EU bid to talks with Ankara. But Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said he would be in Luxembourg on Sunday to meet with EU officials to try to restart the talks, which were frozen in March.

Diplomats said emergency foreign ministers’ talks would be organised on Sunday if ambassadors fail to sway Austria.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw pressed his EU counterparts yesterday not to turn their backs on Turkey, and to allow full entry talks to begin on time.

“It would be a huge betrayal of the hopes and expectations of the Turkish people and of Prime Minister (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan’s program of reform if, at this crucial time, we turned our back on Turkey,” Straw said.

Turkey reiterated yesterday that any shift from earlier promises on full EU membership negotiations would be unacceptable.

Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said this week there was support in Europe for Vienna’s demand that Turkey be given a special relationship rather than full membership.