Blair urges Turkey to seize reforms
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, ahead of a visit to Turkey today, said the European Union would start membership talks with the country if it met requirements on human rights and democracy by the end of the year, a newspaper reported in Ankara.
Blair, who strongly backs Turkey’s aspiration to join the EU, was scheduled to meet President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
His talks were also to focus on Cyprus, Iraq and the Middle East.
Four small bombs exploded outside branches of the HSBC bank in Ankara today ahead of Blair’s visit.
One device went off underneath a parked car and another shattered windows of a bank. Two similar blasts caused minor damage to branches in Istanbul.
“I wanted to see with my eyes the modern, confident and European Turkey that you’re building. I want to encourage the implementation of your reforms to meet the Copenhagen criteria,” Blair told daily Hurriyet.
Britain is a leading advocate of Turkish membership, arguing that the nation can help bridge differences between Europe and the Muslim world and aid in the fight against terrorism.
“My strong belief is that Turkey’s membership would be good for all of us,” Blair told Hurriyet. “I wish a positive decision for Turkey in December with my whole heart.”
Turkey, located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, is hoping to begin EU membership talks at the end of the year. Turkish membership would extend the bloc’s borders to Syria and Iraq.
The predominantly Muslim nation has carried out sweeping reforms in the last two years as it tries to meet the EU’s so-called Copenhagen criteria. It has, for example, abolished the death penalty and granted greater cultural rights to long-oppressed Kurds.
Britain believes the reform process is not yet complete, but thinks Ankara’s progress should be rewarded by launching membership talks. EU leaders are scheduled to decide in December whether to do that.
French President Jacques Chirac has taken a harder stance and said Ankara is unlikely to meet the conditions required for membership for another 10 to 15 years.
Earlier this year, Blair said accepting Turkey would show Europe was committed to “diverse races, cultures and religions”.
“A secular and stable Turkey anchored at the West, would show that Islam, democracy and economic success could coexist,” Blair told Hurriyet.
Blair’s office said the talks were also likely to focus on the reunification of Cyprus, which has been divided into a Greek Cypriot-controlled south and a Turkish occupied north since Turkey invaded in 1974.
A UN plan drafted by Secretary General Kofi Annan to reunify the island foundered when it was rejected by Greek Cypriots in an April 24 referendum.
“I continue to believe that the Annan plan is the best way to reach a comprehensive solution,” Hurriyet quoted Blair as saying.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the bomb attacks today.
Suspected al-Qaida bombers blew up trucks packed with explosives at the British consulate and the main headquarters of HSBC in Istanbul in November, killing 27 people. The truck bombings had coincided with US President George Bush’s state visit to Britain.
British Consul-General Roger Short was among those killed in the suicide bombings, which were the worst terrorist attacks in Turkey’s history. They came five days after suspected al-Qaida militants blew up two Istanbul synagogues in similar fashion, killing 23 people.
