EU ministers 'unlikely to agree' on Turkey issue
European Union foreign ministers today struggled to agree on how to sanction Turkey for refusing to open its ports to trade with EU member Cyprus.
Some ministers pushed for the partial suspension of Turkey's EU membership negotiations, others called for lenience, saying a harder line could alienate Ankara, which is seeking to become the first mainly Muslim country in the European bloc.
The deep division after more than two hours of talks today indicated that the foreign ministers were unlikely to reach an agreement, leaving it to EU leaders to make a final decision at their key summit starting on Thursday.
The ministers were assessing a recommendation by EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn to suspend eight of 35 negotiating "chapters" related to transport and trade policies as a way to pressure Turkey into implementing a 2005 customs union pact to open its ports to 10 new EU members, including Cyprus.
Ankara has so far refused, saying it will not do so until the EU lifts its embargo on the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the north of the island.
The issue has split the 25 EU nations.
France and Germany have backed Rehn's position and have suggested setting a 2008 deadline to review Turkey's membership bid. Britain, Italy and Sweden have welcomed Turkey's recent overtures and want a softer line to keep entry talks going.
Greece, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Austria are pushing to suspend even more negotiating areas until Turkey implements the customs pact.
"Turkey has to respect its obligations," French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said. He said Rehn's proposal struck the right balance because it sends a clear signal to the Turks but "will not lead to a rupture in the negotiations".
A new Finnish draft under discussion behind closed doors left open the number of policy areas to be suspended, diplomats said.
Britain, Sweden and Spain were pushing for a suspension of between one and three policy areas, while Greece, Cyprus, the Netherlands, and Austria want at least 10 or more frozen, which would significantly slow down the entry talks that began in October 2005.
"We have to stick to our principles," Austria's foreign minister Ursula Plassnik told reporters as she arrived for the meeting. "It is clear the number of chapters (to be suspended) will have to be put up."
Turkey's foreign minister Abdullah Gul warned EU ministers not to push Turkey into a corner over Cyprus, insisting the EU had to lift the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots.
"Pressuring Turkey to fulfil unilateral conditions while ignoring other obligations carries the risk of derailing the process," Gul wrote in the International Herald Tribune.
The dispute reflects wider doubts within the EU over Turkey's bid to join.
Supporters - including the United States - see it as a chance to anchor a strategically important and moderate Muslim nation in the camp of Western democracies.
Opponents fear Turkey's historical and cultural differences risk slowing the drive to build a united Europe. They point to continued concerns over democracy and human rights in Turkey and say the nation's relative poverty will lead to mass westward immigration and huge strains on EU finances.
Even without the dispute over Cyprus, the membership talks were expected to last at least 10 years.
