An eventual refusal by the European Union to grant membership to Turkey would create a chasm between the West and the Muslim world and be a victory for terror chief Osama bin Laden, Morocco’s L’Economiste newspaper said on Friday.
”Osama bin Laden and his followers are seeking to provoke this split,” wrote the paper, adding: ”Rejection of Turkey’s candidacy would be seen around the world as a deliberate attempt to rupture ties with the Muslim world.
”It would be a huge victory for Bin Laden and other fanatics. It would be as if they had succeeded in force-feeding the entire world the doctrine that religious differences determine political and strategic choices,” the paper wrote.
”If this country [Turkey] is rejected because its origins and references are Muslim, the message for other societies will be clear: it says brutally that it is useless to make an effort.”
Refusing EU membership to Turkey ”would call into question all the processes that are under way in the Arab world, from democratisation to economic liberalisation”, said the Moroccan business newspaper.
No word on conditions
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Friday that it is not yet clear whether Turkey will meet the conditions EU leaders have set for opening talks on the country’s membership in the bloc.
”The very good news for the government of Turkey is that there is a date being set. It will be, as anticipated, next year — not the year after or the year after that … and we are making a firm decision that these negotiations are with a view to full membership of the EU and not to some kind of associate membership,” Straw told BBC radio.
He spoke from Brussels, Belgium, where EU leaders were meeting, with Turkey the top issue on their agenda.
The leaders agreed on Thursday to open negotiations that would make Turkey the first predominantly Muslim nation in the bloc.
But differences over the decades-old issue of Cyprus, divided between its Greek and Turkish communities, appear to be standing in the way of final agreement.
Straw emphasised that the EU is not asking Turkey to recognise Greek Cypriot-led Cyprus fully before the talks begin. But the country should make a positive gesture by signing the so-called Ankara protocol, which extends its customs union with the EU to the 10 new member states, including Cyprus, Straw said.
Cyprus joined the EU last May.
Despite widespread public opposition to Turkish membership in continental Europe, Straw said ”we are winning the argument”. Britain strongly supports Turkey’s bid.
”It’s about politics and justice,” Straw said. ”If you look at Turkish civilisation, the contribution that it has made to Europe, it is fundamentally a European nation and it needs to be in Europe.”
He said Turkish membership will also benefit EU countries economically. — Sapa-AP, Sapa-AFP
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