EU tries to look past Turkey
Germany offers compromise in talks on membership
LUXEMBOURG — Turkey’s hope of moving to the next stage of negotiations to join the European Union was kept alive Monday after Germany proposed a compromise that would bind the bloc to expanded talks but only once it approved Ankara’s latest reforms.
With the hedged proposal, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said he wanted to make sure the impact of the protests that have rocked the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the past weeks would be taken into account without endangering the long-term strategy to draw Turkey closer.
A progress report on Turkey’s ability to fit within the EU is expected mid-October.
Westerwelle’s proposal is expected to be discussed by EU ministers on Tuesday and any EU decision on Turkey talks needs unanimity among the 27 member states.
“On the one hand we cannot pretend as if these talks here were happening without any context, as if the past days hadn’t existed,” Westerwelle said. “On the other hand we also have to see that our joint, general, strategic and long-term interests are upheld.”
Germany, which has a sizeable Turkish population, had initially blocked the next step in membership talks last week.
In Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel also sounded more conciliatory as she underlined Germany’s commitment to continuing with the talks. She called development of a strong civil society in Turkey very important and added that “it should not be viewed as a threat but perceived as an enrichment.”
“We are not pursuing policies for the day and for the week, we are pursuing policies for the years and the decades,” Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said. “We can’t change the strategy of the European Union, just because there happens to be nervousness in one part or in the other.”
EU Foreign Affairs chief Catherine Ashton was seeking to keep the door open for further Turkish discussions.
“My general view on everything is engagement is a much better option where you possibly can,” she said.
Berlin’s blocking of the decision to open a new chapter in the long-running accession negotiations last week was a blow to Erdogan’s government, which faces increasing international scrutiny over its crackdown.
“We have to notice at the moment that there has to be some movement from Turkey before starting with negotiations in a new chapter,” said Austria’s Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger.
“We are waiting for signals from An- kara that they are going to give people in Turkey really their rights,” he said.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said the German and Turkish foreign ministers held more talks over the day and that he was confident that the EU would come up with a “positive” solution.
“It is in the whole of the EU’s interest that the best decision, one that would give an impetus to EU-Turkish relations, is taken,” Arinc said.