BY ASLI AYDINTASBAS
SABAH- European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen, the Euro-bureaucrat both most loved and most hated by the Turkish nation, over the weekend told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag that the EU would not open membership talks with Turkey unless the country passes a human rights reform package. ‘Criminal reforms are an indispensable pre-requisite for the establishment of membership negotiations,’ said Verheugen. ‘Only with these reforms can we certify that Turkey is a just state in which human rights are taken into account. The commission will make it clear that the membership negotiations cannot come so long as this central element is not fulfilled.’ He also warned that Turkey’s membership talks would not survive if the reforms include a provision criminalizing adultery, something the EU harshly opposes.
In a related development, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning to tell EU officials during his official visit to Brussels on Thursday that criminalizing adultery has to do with Turkish customs and traditions and should not affect his country’s relations with the EU. He is expected to cite in support varying norms and regulations within current EU countries such as Ireland’s abortion ban and the Netherlands’ relaxed drug laws. His arguments might be considered philosophically, but under the current circumstances even starting such a discussion seems unlikely. Due to the recent adultery debate, not just Ankara but also EU supporters of Turkey’s bid are in a corner. For example, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder over the weekend sent Erdogan messages expressing how he feels troubled with anti-Turkish circles’ reaction to Ankara’s insistence about the adultery matter.
But there’s no need for despair. It’s certain that Turkey and the EU will face hundreds of similar crises in the future. We must be ready for them. Ankara is still looking for a way to overcome the current one.
These discussions will of course have an impact on the EU’S progress report. Our negotiations might begin next June during Britain’s term presidency, not in March, as Ankara currently expects. However, everything might still change if Erdogan uses his 24 hours in Brussels efficiently. Erdogan is a skilled rhetorician, and he might still change the views of EU officials on his government’s plans and aspirations.