French President: Turkey's EU Path Is A Path Of No Return

ISTANBUL - French President Jacques Chirac said on Tuesday that Turkey`s EU path was a path of no return.
Chirac, who attended NATO summit in Istanbul, told a press conference that France would wait for the report to be prepared about Turkey`s EU membership by the EU Commission, but Turkey`s EU path was an ``irreversible`` process.
When recalled that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder openly supported Turkey`s EU membership and asked to make a clear statement about Turkey`s EU membership since his earlier statements were interpreted in two different ways, Chirac said that there was no difference of opinion between him and Schroeder.
Chirac said that he openly expressed his views about Turkey`s membership yesterday.
Noting that France would wait for the report that EU Commissioner for enlargement Guenter Verheugen would submit to the Commission in October, Chirac said that they would consider whether or not Turkey had fully met Copenhagen criteria.
Earlier, Schroeder said that the EU should keep the promise it made to Turkey 41 years ago and make a decision to open full membership negotiations with Turkey at the end of this year.
The EU announced that Turkey was a candidate at EU Helsinki Summit in 1999. The EU is expected to decide whether or not to open negotiations with Turkey in its summit in December.
(BRC-AÖ) 29.06.2004