Unity seen on Turkish EU membership
Senior party spokespersons have reiterated their support for Turkey’s accession to the European Union.
Foreign secretary David Miliband and his Conservative shadow William Hague have united to deliver supportive statements on the pamphlet by the London-based Foreign Policy Centre (FPC) thinktank.
It argues European economic and energy security prospects will be improved as a result of Turkish accession.
The EU’s largest players are divided on whether Turkey should be given membership. Germany remains uncertain while French president Nicolas Sarkozy has said Europe should “give itself borders” and that not every country has a “vocation” to join.
Britain thinks otherwise, as today’s pamphlet shows. Mr Miliband argues Turkey is a partner of “immense promise” and links its “reform trajectory” to an ongoing belief that the EU welcomes its advances.
And Mr Hague warns that a rejection of Turkey would send a signal that the EU is “inward-looking” and “fearful of the world beyond its borders”.
European enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn is set to present his latest update on EU accession talks later today.
There have been difficulties in recent months. Since winning a second term last summer the Turkish government has pursued a populist policy of slowing down the accession process.
The global financial crisis means its economy is also facing difficulty. Chatham House expert Fadi Hakura recently told inthenews.co.uk prime minister Reycep Tayyip Erdogan’s response had been one of “stagnation and inertia”.
Despite these problems, FPC policy director Adam Hug says a positive approach by the EU could help push Turkey towards, rather than away from, Europe.
“Turkish membership signifies a choice for Europe between becoming an outward-looking union at peace with its internal diversity that prioritises the economic and security needs of its members, or an insular, almost parochial grouping, searching for an imagined cultural homogeneity,” he said.
“If Turkey succeeds in fully implementing the EU’s accession criteria, which are the toughest requirements given to any candidate country, it will have earned the right to join the European Union.”
