Friday, 21 January 2005Oposition voices have been raised at the European Parliament (EP) against Turkey's future membership.
The European Union (EU) Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn answered EP deputies at the Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday (January 19) and he faced many questions comparing Ukraine and Turkey.
Some EU deputies have claimed that Ukraine is more qualified than Turkey for EU membership and called for membership negotiations to start quickly.
One EP member asked, "While 40 million Christians are waiting at our door, why would we start negotiations with Turkey?" while another member brought a comparison to the agenda saying that on one side, a country like Ukraine, with 100 percent of its lands in Europe, has not even been given a membership perspective while negotiations will begin with Turkey, which has only five percent of its lands in Europe.
Rehn refrained from giving explicit answers and said that Ukraine for now is evaluated within the perspective of EU's neighborhood policy. Meanwhile, the Turkey-EP Joint
Parliamentary Commission Co-Chair Joost Lagendjik emphasized that even though, Ukraine has been given a candidacy statute in a short time, it is impossible for it to become a member before Turkey. It is thought that Ukraine's candidacy could be announced in 2005.
Source: Zaman
Brussels
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Friday, 21 January 2005
By Selcuk Gultasli
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