CUMHURIYET- Columnist Hikmet Bila writes about future developments in Turkey’s EU membership bid after the passage of harmonization laws in the Parliament last week. A summary of his column is as follows:
No matter what anyone says, the passage of the EU harmonization laws is the work of Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz. Surely, Yilmaz tackled a very difficult task in attracting the support of the majority of the assembly, and Parliament passed the most controversial laws when no one expected from it to do so. Yet, everything starts after that point. A commentary in the New York Times last weekend said that Turkey’s gaining EU membership would not be easy, adding that the bulk of the question hinged more on the EU’s sincerity and its member countries’ doubts about Turkey’s identity in the EU than on Turkey’s honesty about the harmonization laws. This comment proved to be spot on when European Parliament Foreign Affairs Commission Chairman Elmar Brok said that Turkey was still unable to meet the Copenhagen criteria. Moreover, a Belgian diplomat said that the passage of the harmonization laws gave rise to more anxiety than appreciation in the EU and that its 15 member countries will hardly be able to reach a consensus about Turkey’s membership in only four months. Furthermore, the Cyprus issue still persists unsolved. We are at the threshold of a period which will reveal the EU’s real attitude towards Turkey. The member countries’ foreign ministers will hold an unofficial meeting on Aug. 30-31 in Denmark which will give the very first clue about the general framework drawn for Turkey. On Sept. 18, the European Parliament rapporteur will prepare a draft report and on Oct. 16, Turkey’s Progress Report is going to be delivered. On Nov. 2 the EU Council will update its terrorist organization list and will reach a decision about whether to include KADEK, the PKK’s terrorist successor, on the list or not. On Dec. 13-14, the member countries’ presidents and prime ministers will gather in Copenhagen. Starting on Aug. 30, this busy schedule and the decisions taken during it will certainly affect the results of elections in Turkey.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION