A senior European Commission official said the continent was
sending negative signals to Turkey that could dampen the country's
will to reform, German media reported on Monday.
"Europe is sending Turkey almost exclusively negative signals,"
European Commission Vice President Guenter Verheugen told German
radio Deutsche Welle.
"We are focusing on the weaknesses of the country, and not
encouraging them to change ... feeding a reluctance to make the
reforms we are asking for, which in turn leads Europe to the view
that the Turks simply can't manage it," Verheugen added.
"This is a dangerous spiral that threatens to lead to a global
political failure of the highest order," he said.
Although there were issues that needed to be settled before
admitting Turkey to the union, the goal of talks needed to remain
full membership, said the EU commissioner.
"We all have an interest in a Turkey that is closely bound to
the Western world -- one which is democratic, respects human rights
and protects the rights of minorities," he said.
"The reformers in Turkey stand for all this and they need
Europe's support," he added.
The commissioner's remarks come only days after Angela Merkel
returned from her first visit to Turkey as German chancellor.
Merkel has long been insisting on offering Ankara a "privileged
partnership" rather than full membership, but the chancellor said
she would respect the EU's decision on admitting Turkey to the
bloc.
After Bulgaria and Romania joined the bloc next year, no other
members ought to be accepted in the near future, said Merkel, whose
country is taking over as rotating president of the EU in the first
half of next year.
However, Merkel's grand coalition partners, the Social
Democratic Party (SPD), have been supporting Turkey's
membership.
"It would be a disastrous mistake to slam the EU's door shut in
Turkey's face," SPD head Kurt Beck told the Frankfurter
Allegemeinen Sonntagszeitung newspaper.
Turkey deserved a "fair chance" to prove it deserved full
membership, he added.
(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2006)
?
