October 07, 2005
Turkey is in the Waiting Room
"Turkey was ushered into the European Union's waiting room this week. No country has yet left emptyhanded, but Turkey will have to wait until at least 2014 before the door is opened to full membership of the EU," according to The Christian Science Monitor.Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:49 AM | Comments (0)
October 04, 2005
Will Turkey Have to Give Up Islam to be Accepted into the EU?
"Turkey must undergo a "major cultural revolution" if it is ever to join the European Union, France's President Jacques Chirac insisted yesterday [October 4, 2005], according to David Rennie of the London Daily Telegraph.
In other words, Turkey should give up Islam and convert to Christianity. I doubt that will happen, at least not in our life town. For more of Mr. Rennie's dispatch, please see "Turks need 'cultural revolution' to join EU."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:55 PM | Comments (0)
October 03, 2005
Did U.S. Keep Turkey's EU Accession Talks From Breaking Down?
The Independent Online's Peter Popham, writing from Istanbul, said today that, "It was an American intervention that saved Turkey's EU accession talks from breaking down even before they had started."
"As Britain and the others bore down on a recalcitrant Austria," he wrote, "the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to say that whatever did or did not happen in Luxembourg, Turkey's status within NATO would be unaffected." Here's more of Mr. Popham's analysis.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)
Turkey Gets to Negotiate With EU Over Admission into Club
Graham Bowley of the International Herald Tribune noted in an October 3, 2005 dispatch from Luxembourg that, Turkey and the European Union on Monday [October 3, 2005] agreed to open membership talks, after a tense diplomatic dance that illustrated all the problems of their partnership."
"After two days of dramatic negotiations, European foreign ministers agreed on terms for talks to start, overcoming Austria's insistence that the EU offer Turkey the possibility of a status less than full membership," Mr. Bowley wrote, adding: "By evening, after hours of discussion with Ankara, Turkey agreed to the framework proffered for what are expected to be tough talks over the next decade."
Meanwhile, New York Times correspondent Craig S. Smith asserted in an October 3, 2005 article that, "Many Europeans oppose Turkey's membership [in the European Union], arguing that while the country has a toehold in Europe, it is not European at its core. They worry that because Turkey would be the largest country in the Union by the time it joined, it would skew the already complex European agenda."
Mr. Smith said, "The last-minute diplomacy kept the Turkish foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, waiting in Ankara and frayed nerves on both sides. "Either it will show political maturity and become a global power or it will end up a Christian club," [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan [the Turkish prime minister] said of the European Union on Sunday," October 1, 2005.
"In fact, it is just that question that is haunting Europe," Mr. Smith added. For more, please see "Identity crisis within the EU." Also see
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)
Turkey Still Begging to Join European Union
After nearly 40-years of begging the European Union for admission into its Christian Club, Turkey is still seeking admittance when it is obvious that some European leaders want nothing to do with the Muslim nation that wants so badly to be other than what it is.
The Independent Online of England reported October 3, 2005 that, "Amid mounting tension, supporters of Turkey's accession argued that a rebuff to Ankara would provoke a crisis in the EU's relations with the Muslim world."
The publication added: "The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking at a resort outside Ankara, said Europe was at a historic crossroad. "Either it will show political maturity and become a global power, or it will end up a Christian club," he said.
"No EU decision will deviate Turkey from its course" toward further democracy and reforms, Mr Erdogan added. "We will, however, be saddened that a project for the alliance of civilisations will be harmed.
I think most beggars probably feel some shame. However, some Turkish leaders don't seem to have any. For more, please see Stephen Castle's "Last-minute talks on Turkish membership stall."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:17 AM | Comments (2)
Austria Sticks to its Position, for Now, on Turkey
The EU Observer's Mark Beunderman reported today that, "The opening of historic [European Union] accession talks with Turkey, scheduled for today (3 October) remains uncertain as Austria this morning stuck to its refusal to agree to the negotiating framework."
According to Mr. Beunderman, "UK foreign minister Jack Straw told journalists this morning after bilateral meetings with Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik, as well as with the Greek and Cypriot foreign ministers, that negotiations were "hard and difficult". He added that he "could not be certain" that an agreement could be reached." Read more here.
Editor's Note: This development can change at any moment. However, there will be no Diplomatic Times Review updates until later today or tonight.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:02 AM | Comments (0)
September 29, 2005
EU Parliament Postpones Vote on Turkey
"The European Parliament postponed a vote to ratify Turkey's customs union with the European Union on Wednesday [September 28, 2005], citing frustration over Ankara's continued refusal to recognize Cyprus," according to The Associated Press (AP). Other publications have also reported the development.
The AP added: "In another step certain to anger the Turkish government days ahead of scheduled EU membership talks, lawmakers called on Ankara to recognize the 1915-23 killings of Armenians as genocide. Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:22 AM | Comments (0)
There's Anxiety in Europe Over Prospect of Turkey Joining EU
The BBC reported today, September 28, 2005, that, "Europe's [news]papers detect signs of anxiety across the European Union at the prospect of full membership for Turkey." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:11 AM | Comments (0)
August 03, 2005
Richard North Sees a Police State Coming to the UK
In an August 3, 2005 post headlined "The Police State Cometh," Richard North at EU Referendum noted that, "Following Home Secretary [Charles] Clarke's proposals last month for an EU law on data retention, it seems the EU commission has been hard at work preparing a new directive."
Mr. North said, "According to the on-line magazine Infoeconomy a leaked commission document has revealed its plans which, if anything, are worse than expected."
"The proposed directive will force telecommunication companies to store logs of all fixed and mobile telephony traffic for one year while Internet traffic will have to be kept for six months," he wrote, adding: "The proposal requires the identity and addresses of both the sender and receiver be stored."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 02:32 AM | Comments (0)
France Wants Turkey to Recognise Cyprus Before EU Talks Start
Honor Mahony at EU Observer.com reported August 3, 2005 that, "French prime minister Dominique de Villepin "has questioned whether it is conceivable to open EU membership talks with Turkey if it does not recognize Cyprus.
According to EU Observer, the prime minister told French radio on August 2, 2005: "It seems to me inconceivable that such a negotiation process can begin with a country which does not recognize every one of the members of the European Union, that is to say the 25". Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 02:16 AM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2005
Wolfgang Schauble: 'Turkey Can Never Be European'
The EU Observer reports that, Wolfgang Schauble, vice president of Germany's CDU/CSU party, told the Polish daily, Rzeczpospolita, on July 25, 2005, that The EU should not extend beyond the boundary that we call the European continent. Otherwise people will stop identifying with it. And if so, Turkey, the vast part of which lies outside Europe, cannot belong to the union.
For more, see "Turkey can never be European, German politician says."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 19, 2005
Poll: Most Europeans Don't Want Turkey In The EU
Times of London correspondent Anthony Browne noted in a July 19, 2005 dispatch from Brussels, Belgium that, "Turkey's hopes of joining the European Union suffered a double setback after the first official opinion poll on the issue indicated that a large majority of Europeans are opposed and a senior Austrian minister called for entry talks to be shelved." By now, Turkey should have realized that the EU is, as former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing once put it, a Christian club.
"In my opinion, it would be the end of Europe," he told the French daily LeMonde, according to Wikipedia.
Yet, Turkey continues to beg for admittance although it is obvious that she is not welcome. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 12:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 14, 2005
Bülent Aras Looks At 'Turkey, Europe and Middle-East Security'
"Many factors contributed to the French and Dutch objections to the proposed EU Constitution," writes Bülent Aras in an article in The Journal Of Turkish Weekly. "One usually unstated factor is a fear of Turkish membership in the Union," he added. "That membership drive, however, has already transformed Turkey." Read "Turkey, Europe and Middle-East Security," to learn how Turkey has been transformed.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2005
Luxembourg Says 'Yes" To European Constitution
"Luxembourg said yes to the European constitution on Sunday (July 10, 2005), with 56.52 percent of its citizens voting in favour of the treaty, and 43.48 percent against, according to the Luxembourg government's figures," reports Elitsa Vucheva of EU Observer.com.
"The exact question Luxembourgers had to answer during the compulsory referendum was: "Are you in favour of the treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, signed in Rome on 29 October 2004?" the Vucheva report said, adding: "Despite the fact that Luxembourgers had the same fears as the Dutch and French voters amongst others, that the document might endanger some of the social "acquis" and facilitate immigration, Luxembourg has now become the 13th country to ratify the document."
See "Luxembourg says yes to EU constitution" for more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)
June 24, 2005
Daily Telegraph: Europe Needs Hard Decisions, Not Hot Air
The Daily Telegraph of London takes a swipe at the hoopla surrounding Prime Minister Tony Blair's call for modernization in the European Union in a June 24, 2005 editorial.
"In every crisis there is an opportunity," Tony Blair informed the European Parliament yesterday [June 23, 2005," the paper noted, adding:.
He might have added: "for flights of rhetoric". We said on Tuesday [June 22, 2005] that Europe provides the Prime Minister with a great opportunity for blending divergent views in a warm soup of words. Yesterday's [June 23, 2005] speech was a classic of the genre. "The purpose of social Europe," he said - by which he means a high-spending, interventionist superstate - "and economic Europe" - by which he means a high-growth economy - "is to sustain each other.The publication said, "Mr Blair does not - as the Conservatives do - regard "ever closer union" and "a more flexible Europe" to be basically incompatible. As in Britain, he declines to see a choice between "Left or Right", but between something far more nebulous: "modernisation" or "stagnation."
See "Europe needs hard decisions, not hot air" for more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 23, 2005
EU Elites And The Meaning Of Words
Ken at the EU Realist contends that, "the EU (European Union) Elites change the meaning of words or invent new words instead of using readily recognized words to explain what they mean then because they are using these new words they get away with making the most extreme statements." Some politicians on this side of the Atlantic often do the same thing. See "EU speak" for more on the subject.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Blair Makes Appeal To Germans On Rebate Issue
Guardian Unlimited of London reported June 23, 2005 that British Prime Minister Tony Blair "has taken his battle over the EU (European Union) budget to the [German people] people by penning an emotional appeal in the biggest selling German newspaper, Bild, about the need for reform." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Rebate Debate Raises Hackles in Europe
Carsten Volkery, writing from Berlin for Spiegel Online, told Spiegel readers "Whatever you think of [British Prime Minister Tony] Blair, "you have to admit that he is pretty good at getting himself out there. Currently it is his stance on reforming the EU budget which is raising hackles -- especially in Germany, where a government paper has revealed that Gerhard Schroeder's government is anything but happy with Blair's newfound reformist stance." Volkery added: The German government has defended current European Union agricultural policies against criticisms from British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "Britain is currently flogging the myth that an allegedly money-wasting common agricultural policy is the central hurdle to a reduction of the British rebate," an internal government working paper obtained by Spiegel Online on Thursday [June 23, 2005] states. "Those are arguments from the 1980s.
"There have been a great deal of fundamental changes since 1984, the government argues, when then-British prime minister Margaret Thatcher fought for the rebate," Volkery noted. "Britain, for example, is no longer a poor nation, but rather the EU's fourth wealthiest. In addition, since 1992 Europe's agricultural policy has undergone a "shift in direction." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
'Sniping In The Name Of European Unity'
Helen Szamuely at EU Referendum comments in a June 23, 2004 post on the sniping currently taking place in Europe over the recent no votes on the European Union constitution and last weeks failed budget summit.
"On an on it goes," she wrote, " the sniping in the name of European unity. Such a joy to see all those politicians snarl at each other in order to preserve their own countries goodies. Not that I have any problems with politicians wanting to do the best for their countries, as they see it (i.e. getting themselves re-elected) but I do object to us paying for their little games."
It sounds like a reasonable objection to me. For more, see "Quotes from the Budget Wars."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
British Diplomats Work To Allay New EU Members' Fears
Ivan Camilleri of The Times of Malta reported June 23, 2005 from Brussels that, "In the wake of last week's failure to agree on the next EU Budget, the UK has initiated a diplomatic "damage control" campaign focused particularly on the 10 new member states considered to be the most badly hit by the talks collapse."
Mr. Camilleri said,"The new member states, including Malta, have already expressed concern over the situation as a late agreement on the financial perspective will mean less time to prepare the necessary and time-consuming groundwork connected to the use of millions of euros in structural and cohesion funds," he wrote.
British Prime Minster Tony Blair is wasting no time as he prepares to assume the presidency of the EU.
See "UK moves to allay new member states' fears" for more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 22, 2005
EU To Approve Negotiations Framework For Turkey
EU Observer.Com reported June 22, 2005 that, "The European Commission is set to let Turkey move a step closer to the EU by approving the negotiations framework, on which it will base membership negotiations with the country, next Wednesday (June 29, 2005). The framework for negotiations constitutes the main guiding principles on which EU negotiations with a country are started," the publication said. Here's more..
Posted by Munir Umrani at 04:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 20, 2005
Der Spiegel: The EU's Fight Over Money Isn't So Bad
Der Spiegel Online correspondents Hans-Jürgen Schlamp and Frank Dohmen say it would "be easy to exaggerate" the situation in the European Union although it "is in a rut and it's not clear how it will get out."
"The fight over money isn't so bad that it will be impossible to resolve," they wrote on in a June 20, 2005 article headlined "EU Summit Collapse is 'Historic Failure.' They were referring to last week's EU meeting in Brussels that collapsed on June 17, 2005 because of France and Britain's "complete unwillingness to compromise on the European Union's next budget."
"There's still plenty of time to draw up a financial plan for the EU'S 2007-2013 budget period," they opined, adding: "Indeed, in the almost 50-year history of the European community, important decisions have almost always been made at the last minute."
They said, "What is terrible, however, is the effect the fruitless summit is having in the media, which has deeply damaged Brussels's already disastrous image among the European populace. Planners intended for the summer summit in Brussels to mark a turn for the better - unfortunately, they instead got an historical failure," they acknowledged.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 01:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 19, 2005
The Week Ahead For Tony Blair
Richard North at EU Referendum said in a June 20, 2005 post that, "Although the broadcast media seem to have dropped "Europe" like a hot cake yesterday, having overdosed over the last week, today should see a brief squib as [British Prime Minister Tony] Blair reports back to the Commons on the abortive European Council."
"There should also be some fun on Thursday when he addresses the EU parliament in Brussels, setting out in detail his objectives of the UK presidency which starts on 1 July," Mr. North wrote. See "Sitting Bull on the warpath" for more of his interesting commentary.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Schüssel Says Blair Put National Interest Above EU
Deutsche Welle reported on June 19, 2005 that, "Following the collapse of the European Union summit over a bitter budget dispute, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel took British Prime Minister" Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair "to task for putting national interests above those of the 25-member bloc.
Britain, which insisted on retaining its five-billion euro rebate despite opposition from the other 24 member states, has been widely criticized for torpedoing the 2007-2013 budget compromise," Deutsche Welle noted. See "Quo Vadis, Europe?" fore more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Peter Mandelson: 'The EU Faces A Stark Choice
European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson stated in a June 20, 2005 Guardian Unlimited article that,"The Brussels summit has highlighted the stark choice before Europe: "carry on as before" or, in the light of the French and Dutch no votes, "rethink fundamentally our priorities and policies."
"Anti-Europeans, of course, want to use the present crisis to pull down Europe and turn it into some weak and ineffective free-trade area," he wrote. "I believe profoundly that Europe, having solved the problem of the European civil wars of the 20th century, provides the answer to many challenges of the 21st - and unless we succeed in making the idea of Europe more attractive, progressive politics will be greatly weakened." See "More than a squabble: this goes to the heart of Europe" for more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
