Turkey may be waiting at Europe's door for 20 more years - by David Charter
The timetable for Turkey to join the EU appeared to slip yesterday when José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, gave his most pessimistic view of the country’s progress towards membership since formal talks began a year ago. Senhor Barroso said that it could be up to 20 years before Turkey joined. He was highlighting a slowdown in reforms as he prepared the ground for a critical assessment report. Turkey’s case has suffered blows in recent weeks, including last week’s vote by French deputies to criminalise denial of the First World War Armenian genocide.
Speaking before Senhor Barroso’s remarks, Mr Erdogan said yesterday that Jacques Chirac, the French President, had expressed his regret to him over the Bill. “Because of certain narrow-minded deputies, the France we know as a country of liberties is forced to live with this shame,” Mr Erdogan said. The Bill, opposed by M Chirac’s party, was approved at first reading by the National Assembly but without government backing is unlikely to become law. Turkish business and consumer groups have threatened to boycott French products.
No comments:
Post a Comment