 Turkey's prime minister said the country will not not agree to any new conditions for European Union membership, adding that Turkey expects "honest politics" as it begins negotiations to join the bloc.
| Honesty from a politician? What next, charity from a banker? |
| Do you think they've caught onto the fact that the pea's not under any of the the shells yet? |
The EU has already imposed tough conditions on Turkish membership. Turkey must recognize Cyprus before the talks open in October, show progress on Kurdish rights, improve the economy and limit the military's influence in politics. Ankara is also expected to treat ethnic and religious minorities equally and implement penal code reforms. Still many European voters are balking at letting in the poor, predominantly Muslim country of 70 million people, a decision that would extend the EU's borders to Syria and Iran.
| Much as I sympathize with the Turks, being fed a line as they have been, and jerked from pillar to post, I can also sympathize with the Euros. I lived in Berlin in the mid-70s, before the cultural problems achieved their present dimensions, and it wasn't pretty then... |
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said this week that the bloc should have an open debate about Turkey's candidacy. The country is scheduled to start membership negotiations with the EU on Oct. 3. "Turkey is not ... renegotiating anything," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters late Saturday. "If you impose new things on countries from one day to the next, especially at a time when negotiations are about to start, that would not be right, " he added. "We are used to honest politics, that's what we expect and want." |