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| Europe |
| European Parliament urges EU to open talks on Turkey's accession |
| 2004-12-15 |
| Great grandstanding by politicians with neither accountability nor responsibility The European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution on Wednesday in Strasbourg of France, urging the European Union (EU) to start accession negotiations with Turkey "without undue delay." The non-binding resolution, passed by 407 votes in favor, 262 against and 29 abstentions in a secret ballot, said Turkey has made impressive progress in respecting the political criteria, enough for negotiations on EU membership to start. Nevertheless, the EP acknowledged that problems continue to exist, such as regarding minority rights, religious freedoms, trade union rights, women's rights, the role of the army, Cyprus and the relations with Armenia.  On the same day, addressing the EP European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso made the similar call. "It is now time for the European Council to honor its commitment to Turkey and announce the opening of accession negotiations. A clear date should be indicated," he said. "We accept that the accession process is open-ended and its outcome cannot be guaranteed beforehand," Barroso added. The upcoming EU summit, or the European Council in the EU's jargon, to be held in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, is expectedto make a decision on whether to open the talks and set the date. Turkey's intention to join the EU dated back to 1963, and it was not until 1999 that Turkey finally sealed the candidacy for the EU membership. However, due to considerable political, economic and cultural gap with the EU, Turkey has faced an uphill battle for starting the accession talks, a decisive step before joining the 25-member bloc. In October this year, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, submitted a proposal to start the accession talks with Turkey, but it did not notify a date for opening the talks. Xinhua cheesecake: Kylie Minogue pops up for Christmas |
| Posted by:Mrs. Davis |