Turkey said yesterday it had cut political dialogue with the European Union and rejected an offer to take part in a pan-European conference next year after it was shut out of EU enlargement plans.
"There will not be a political dialogue between Turkey and the European Union," the Prime Minister, Mr Mesut Yilmaz, told a news conference, adding that Turkey would ignore statements by the EU on Turkey's rows with Greece and Cyprus. He said Turkey will go ahead with plans to integrate Turkish-held northern Cyprus if the EU launches membership talks with the divided island's internationally-recognised Greek-Cypriot government, as it announced it will do next year.
The Turkish leader was reacting to the EU summit decision not to invite Ankara to begin negotiations on joining the union as part of its enlargement plans.
EU leaders instead offered Turkey a seat at a standing European conference. But Mr Yilmaz said: "We accept none of the conditions attached to the conference proposal. This issue has lost its meaning for us. Rehabilitation of ties will depend on the European Union if it gives up its erroneous and unjust Turkey policies."
However, he fell short of announcing that Turkey had withdrawn its 1987 application for full membership of the EU. Mr Yilmaz said Turkey would seek to boost bilateral ties with EU member-states.
EU leaders had pledged that the future candidacy of Turkey, a key NATO ally, would be treated according to the same criteria as every other applicant. But they had urged Turkey to first declare it was prepared to submit its various territorial disputes with Greece to the International Court of Justice. The EU had also asked Turkey to withdraw its threat to annex the northern part of Cyprus, which it has occupied since 1974. Mr Yilmaz said the EU resolution was unacceptable as "it failed to evaluate Turkey equally with other candidates, had biased and exaggerated statements and political conditions with prejudices".
On Cyprus, Mr Yilmaz said: "If the EU launches membership talks with the Greek-Cypriot administration, we will materialise what has been envisaged in (this year's) joint declaration between Turkey and the Turkish-Cypriots," Mr Yilmaz said. "And the EU will be responsible for all possible negative developments regarding Cyprus in the future due to the illegitimate move to begin Cyprus membership talks."
The Turkish move to cut political dialogue with the EU will affect Ankara's relations with Greece. The two came to the brink of war in January last year over the sovereignty of uninhabited islets in the Aegean Sea, and only US diplomatic pressure prevented an armed confrontation. - (AFP)
Paul Gillespie writes from Luxembourg:
The summit confirmed Turkey's "eligibility for accession to the European Union" and declared that it "will be judged on the basis of the same criteria as the other applicant states".
Although the political and economic conditions "allowing accession negotiations to be envisaged" are "not satisfied", a strategy should be drawn up "to prepare Turkey for accession by bringing it closer to the EU in every field".
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and other leaders underlined the long hours of negotiation involved in the offer to invite Turkey to participate in a European conference which will bring together existing and aspirant members of the EU.
They called for a positive response. The French President, Mr Chirac, emphasised that in setting out general and particular conditions they were not lecturing Turkey but saying civil and human rights remain important in an enlarged Europe.
The criteria are set out in a comprehensive statement of values and objectives applying to all members of the European Conference. They "must share a common commitment to peace, security and good neighbourliness, respect for other countries' sovereignty, the principles upon which the European Union is founded, the integrity and inviolability of external borders and the principles of international law and a commitment to the settlement of disputes by peaceful means, in particular through the jurisdiction of the International Court in The Hague".
Countries which "endorse these principles", "meet these criteria" and "share the Union's commitment to building a Europe free of the divisions and difficulties of the past" will be invited to take part in the conference. Initially the EU "offer" will be addressed to Cyprus, the applicant states of central and eastern Europe and Turkey.
The formulation distinguishes carefully between an offer and an invitation. Before the invitation is issued, judgments would have to made by the EU Council of Ministers on whether Turkey does indeed meet the criteria as well as endorse them.
In addition, the summit proposed a European strategy for Turkey building on existing agreements, intensifying the customs union and implementing its financial provisions, and approximating Turkey's laws to the EU acquis.
The conclusions go on to say that the European Council recalls that "strengthening Turkey's links with the European Union also depends on its pursuit of the political and economic reforms on which it has embarked, including the alignment of standards and practices regarding human rights with those in force in the European Union; respect for and protection of minorities; the establishment of satisfactory and stable relations between Greece and Turkey; the settlement of disputes, in particular by legal process, such as through the International Court of Justice; and support for negotiations under the aegis of the UN on a political settlement in Cyprus on the basis of the relevant UN Security Council Resolution". The conclusions suggest that the Turkish Cypriot community be represented in the accession talks.
In a meeting dominated by talk of continental enlargement, an extraordinary amount of attention was paid to relations with Turkey. The Taoiseach said it dominated the dinner discussion on Friday night and took up most of the morning session on Saturday.
The Prime Minister of Luxembourg and president of the Council, Mr Juncker, said at the final press conference that "this was not a summit on Turkey - or against it". The EU did not want to build a wall, but a bridge towards Turkey, he said with some feeling as he fielded questions from Turkish journalists. "Europe," he said, "is not a Christian club, but one with high standards."
It was a matter of high emotion for many participants, with considerable mood swings following the ups and downs of the negotiations. Turkish leaders were especially upset by the tone of earlier remarks made by Mr Juncker. He said in a radio interview that other applicant states "were not torturing people" and told a newspaper interviewer he could not bear the thought of "sitting down with torturers".
There was a moment during the summit when the government in Ankara was tempted to break off all talks and contacts with the EU, after a meeting with military leaders. The speaker of the parliament, Mr Hikmet Setin, said "it will be very difficult for Turkey to ratify the inclusion of new members in NATO" if it was excluded from the EU.