Turkey has no more concessions to make to EU

TURKISH Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday Turkey had no more concessions to make to the European Union as it prepares to begin membership talks on October 3.
“Now Turkey has nothing more to give (the EU). We have done everything related to the Copenhagen political criteria,” he told a gathering in the Italian city of Naples televised live on Turkish television.

The Copenhagen criteria cover basic political freedoms and every EU candidate country must meet them before it can start accession talks.

“We have done what was asked of us on December 17,” he said, referring to an EU summit in Brussels which gave Turkey the green light to start talks in October 2005.

Erdogan accused “a few countries” of using the issue of Turkey’s EU membership for domestic political reasons.

“Let’s stop playing to the gallery and try to get a result. That is what I desire and we will continue in this direction.”

France, whose public opinion is largely hostile to Turkish membership, has said it is inconceivable for Turkey to start EU entry talks without first recognising Cyprus, an EU member.

Ankara says it will not recognise the internationally accepted Greek Cypriot government in Nicosia before a comprehensive peace settlement on the island.

Germany’s opposition leader Angela Merkel has also upset Erdogan by calling repeatedly on the EU to offer Ankara a “privileged partnership” falling short of full membership while campaigning for a Sept. 18 election she is expected to win.

Despite the tensions, neither France nor Merkel have said they will veto the start of Turkey’s accession talks on Oct. 3.

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The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.