EU talks Turkey

Oct 8 2005
Western Mail
Staff Reporter

At the end of a week that saw the EU agree to formally begin membership talks with Turkey, Wales MEP Eluned Morgan gives her verdict on the 'Turkey Question.'

THE European Union's success has always lain in its unique ability to draw countries towards peace, democracy and co-operation through the magnetic pull of prosperity and stability. This week we witnessed a climax of this process as EU countries gave the go-ahead to embark on a new and uncharted phase of development.

[...]not since the break-up of the Ottoman Empire 100 years ago have Europeans agonised so much over the "Turkish question".

At the European Parliament last year I voted in favour of starting these formal negotiations. For someone who as a young member of Amnesty International wrote countless letters to Turkish leaders appealing for them to improve their human rights record, it was a difficult decision. But I believe it was the right one.
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Turkey still has to travel a long and bumpy path of economic, social and environmental reform. [...].
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[...]. There also remains a long way to go on relations with Cyprus, Armenia and Turkey's 12 million Kurds.
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It is in our own strategic interest to give Turkey a fair chance to demonstrate whether it is capable of meeting the EU membership conditions.

And make no mistake, if Turkey meets all these conditions it will be quite a different Turkey from the Turkey of today.
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Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.