VIENNA - Independent Commission on Turkey chaired by Martti Ahtisaari, the Former President of the Republic of Finland, introduced its report on Turkey in Vienna on Thursday.
A group of distinguished European policy makers have formed an Independent Commission to assess the challenges and opportunities presented by Turkey's possible membership to the European Union (EU). Members include former Heads of State and Government, Foreign Ministers and European Commissioners.
Albert Rohan, Former Austrian Secretary General for Foreign Affairs and one of the commission members, said that information about Turkey given by several sources was not realistic. Stating that EU feared that there would be high migration flow from Turkey to Europe, Rohan said that according to their researches, after Turkey became a member of the EU, nearly 2.7 million people would migrate from Turkey to EU countries. He noted that Turkish government would take necessary measures to prevent an excessive migration.
Rohan noted that he did not agree with the view that ''Turkey's membership would be the end of the EU'', stating that on the contrary, every new member would contribute to making EU more homogeneous. Rohan said that accession of Turkey, one of the most important military powers in NATO, would strengthen the EU militarily, adding that EU countries should inform their people during negotiations with Turkey to eliminate negative and biased opinions within the EU towards this country.
On the other hand, former President Ahtisaari, recalling that Turkey was actually a member of several international organizations, i.e. NATO, Council of Europe, OECD, UNESCO, UN, etc., said that EU heads of state and government would make a historical decision at their summit in December. Ahtisaari stressed that this decision would also be an important message for the world of Islam.
Ahtisaari stated that negotiations with Turkey could last 10 years, adding that Turkey could be a full member of the EU in 2015.
(EÖ-ULG) 17.09.2004