PARIS, Jan 7 (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac on Friday urged voters not to reject the European Union's first constitution out of fear of Turkey's possible entry to the EU, saying the two issues were entirely separate.
He also warned the country's politicians against turning the referendum on the bloc's first constitution, set to take place sometime before the summer, into an opportunity for domestic political mudslinging.
"There is of course the ever-present temptation in consultations of this nature to distort them. It is everyone's responsibility to refuse to give in to such distortion," Chirac said at a New Year's reception for the press.
"I know all too well that there is also a temptation to twist the referendum for political gain. The stakes involved in the European constitution are national and European," the French president said.
The EU constitution, signed by EU government leaders amid huge fanfare in Rome on October 30, faces a series of referendums in different countries which have chosen to put the constitution to a popular vote.
A "no" vote in any one could in theory block the treaty, which aims to speed up decision-making in the EU following its expansion to include 25 nations last May.
Addressing those who "are trying to play on fears by asking French men and women to vote on the European constitution based on their feelings about Turkey", Chirac said the "two issues have nothing to do with each other".
"If Turkey one day joins Europe, that will mean that it will have adopted a considerable program of reforms, which will have profoundly transformed the country," the French leader noted.
Saying it was too soon to tell how the Turkish issue would turn out, Chirac said: "Everyone must vote based on France's interests and its vision for Europe, because that's what this is about, and nothing else."
"To move Europe forward, We must not start by blocking it! That would be absurd," the French president warned, urging a "yes" vote in the referendum.
Chirac's government on Monday approved draft plans to revise France's national constitution, revisions deemed necessary by the country's constitutional council ahead of the referendum on the EU constitution.
The bill will now go before parliament for approval.
Chirac is due to meet next week with leaders of the parliamentary political blocs, a schedule that excludes far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, who is campaigning against approval of the constitution.
01/07/2005 12:37 GMT - AFP