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EU LAWMAKERS REJECT ALTERNATIVE TO ENTRY FOR TURKEY

Reuters, November 30 2004 Turkey's bid to join the European Union won a boost on Tuesday when a key European Parliament committee rejected calls to offer Ankara less than full membership. The EU legislature's foreign affairs committee endorsed a report recommending that EU leaders agree to open accession talks with Turkey "without undue delay". Lawmakers said the objective of negotiations should be Turkish EU membership, although the outcome could not be automatically guaranteed. They rejected an amendment that would have spelled out that if Turkey did not meet all the EU criteria "other options like a privileged partnership ought to be taken into account". Turkey's bid to join the European Union won a boost on Tuesday when a key European Parliament committee rejected calls to offer Ankara anything less than full membership. The EU legislature's foreign affairs committee endorsed by 50 votes to 18 with six abstentions a report urging EU leaders to agree to open entry talks with Turkey "without undue delay" when they take the landmark decision at a Dec. 16-17 summit. The lawmakers said the objective of negotiations should be EU membership, although that outcome could not be automatically guaranteed and depended on the efforts of both sides. They rejected a key amendment that would have spelled out that if Turkey did not meet all the EU criteria "other options like a privileged partnership ought to be taken into account". Responding to strong public opposition to Turkey's EU bid, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel demanded earlier on Tuesday that EU leaders spell out an explicit alternative to full membership. French and German conservatives are also campaigning for a limited "special partnership" for Ankara. The parliament report, due to be formally adopted by the full house after a plenary debate on Dec. 14, just before the summit, stressed the need for further progress on human rights, stamping out torture and withdrawing Turkish troops from Cyprus. The report, drafted by conservative Dutch Christian Democrat Camiel Eurlings, is not binding on EU governments but diplomats said it was important that it raised no new obstacles. Since Turkey's accession negotiations would be with the 25 EU governments, including Cyprus, "the opening of negotiations thus naturally presupposes its recognition by Turkey", it said. The lawmakers called for an immediate end to hostilities in southeastern Turkey and urged Ankara to do more "to build reconciliation with those Kurdish forces who chose to abandon the use of arms". The report said the opening of negotiations would be the start of a long, open-ended process. It called for the immediate release of all those imprisoned for non-violent expression of opinions in Turkey.

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