TURKEY: Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul leaves Ankara for talks in Luxembourg after accepting the text of a roadmap for its European membership

Record ID: 217718

  • Title: TURKEY: Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul leaves Ankara for talks in Luxembourg after accepting the text of a roadmap for its European membership
  • Date: 4th October 2005
  • Summary: (FLASH) ANKARA, TURKEY (OCTOBER 03, 2005) (REUTERS) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN WALKING IN FOR PRESSER PRESS MEMBERS WATCHING SOUNDBITE (Turkish) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER, TAYYIP ERDOGAN SAYING: "Our all effort in this process is to protect the sensitivities that are related to the promises that were made to Turkey on the December 17 summit." PRESS WATCHING TURKIS
  • Embargoed: 19th October 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: International Relations,European Union
  • Reuters ID: LVA7TAO0ACH409E5I7N1E0TVRCRU
  • Story Text: Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul hailed the start of a new era on Monday (October 3) after Turkey accepted the text of a roadmap for its European Union membership talks following marathon discussions with EU officials. "A historic point has been reached today and this is the start of our membership talks," Gul told reporters at Ankara airport before flying to join EU foreign ministers assembled in Luxembourg. "The text sets out very clearly the prospect of full membership. There is no alternative option (mentioned)," Gul said. Opponents of Turkey's EU membership want to offer the large Muslim country a "privileged partnership" falling well short of membership, an option Ankara strongly rejects. Turkey and the European Union clinched the historic deal to launch membership talks on Monday (October 3) despite deep public scepticism over whether the wealthy Western bloc will ever be able to absorb the teeming Muslim nation. The opening ceremony was delayed until close to midnight by nearly two days of fierce wrangling over Austrian and Turkish objections to the EU's proposed negotiating mandate, reflecting profound distrust on both sides. Austria eventually accepted that the shared goal of the negotiations would be accession, not the lesser "privileged partnership" which many conservatives and Christian Democrats across Western Europe had sought. In return, the EU made clear that its capacity to embrace the vast, poor NATO ally strategically located on the borders of Europe and the Middle East would be a key factor in the pace of Turkey's integration, as well as Ankara's progress in meeting strict criteria. Negotiations are expected to last at least a decade and at least two EU members, France and Austria, have promised their voters a final say on Turkish accession in referendums. Turkey, which made major progress on democracy and human rights just to qualify for starting talks, now faces a marathon effort to transform its political, economic and social system and implement 80,000 pages of EU law.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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