Turkey Gets Its Date with the EU

During evening discussions at the EU expansion summit Thursday, European leaders and Turkish negotiators were finally able to reach agreement on the elusive date on which Turkey could begin negotiating for EU entry.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rassmussen, whose country is leading the Summit, announced last night that Turkey would begin negotiations for entry at the end of 2004.

The news was received with anger by Turkish prime minister Abdullah Gül, who said the EU didn't appreciate all the efforts Turkey has made so far.

"This is impossible to accept," Gül said, after meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who supported an earlier negotiation date for Turkey.

Turkey had been lobbying hard for EU entry since passing a host of human rights legislation last summer. The EU first declared the country a candidate in 1999. Since then, Ankara had hoped it could join the union with the ten other Eastern European and Mediterranean countries in 2004.

The past few weeks have seen an intense lobbying effort in European capitals on the part of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Though well received in Italy, Spain and the UK, Erdogan’s lobbying seemed to annoy other countries.

“Many found the (Turkish lobbying) regrettable and unacceptable,” said Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The US, which will need Turkey’s help in a possible Iraq invasion, had also urged the EU to name a date. The eventual compromise bore strong resemblance to a Franco-German proposal to get Turkey a date in 2005 should it continue to pass human rights legislation in line with EU membership requirements.

The Turkish delegation to the Copenhagen summit told reporters that they want to meet with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and French leader Jacques Chirac. They promised to continue to fight to change the date.