It looks like Turkey still has alot of work to do before they will be considered entry into the EU..

Quote:

Merkel will pressure Turkey on Cyprus

Newscom

October 05, 2006

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not yield on pressing for more reforms when she makes her first visit to Turkey Thursday as government head.

Merkel, when she was still the opposition leader, was against Turkey's accession to the European Union, and instead favored what she called a privileged partnership.

While she has leveled less criticism of Turkey's membership since ruling the country in a coalition with the Social Democrats -- who support Ankara's bid for the club -- she remains hard-line when it comes to the realization of reforms in Turkey.

If Turkey wants to be accepted into the EU, Merkel said recently, Ankara would have to open its ports to Cypriots, recognize the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member, and show a better human rights record at home.

Several conservative politicians in Germany, which takes over the rotating six-month presidency of the EU in January, are uneasy about a nation of more than 70 million Muslims, with modest living standards, joining the exclusive club.

Others argue Turkey's integration into the EU could serve as a bridge between the West and the Muslim world.

On business, Merkel's talks will proceed much more smoothly, observers said.

Germany is Turkey's biggest trading partner since decades, and experts believe the 2006 trade volume will reach some $28 billion, according to Deutsche Welle Online.

A group of top business and industry leaders is accompanying Merkel to Ankara.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

http://www.topix.net/content/newscom/1959516988389991164211390859244066917161

The Cyprus Problem is the main issue for Turkey not being allowed in the EU . .Turkeys defence is that Cyprus rejected the Annan Plan . .

Quote:

Turkey & Europe Two Trains on A Collision Course?
By intervening in Lebanon, Europeans have made a far-reaching, risk-fraught and, at the same time, correct decision. The reason is that the future of Europe’s security will be determined in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. Europe, whether it likes it or not, has taken on a new, strategic role in the region. Should it fail, the price will be high.
In view of the serious risks that Europe has assumed, in full awareness of the consequences, it is of the utmost importance that a European “Grand Strategy“ for the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East be developed, so that Europe can calmly and clearly define its interests. In any serious variation of this Grand Strategy, Turkey will need to play a central role--politically, militarily, economically and culturally.
Safeguarding Europe’s interests today means establishing a strong link--indeed an unbreakable bond--with Turkey as a cornerstone of regional security. So it is astonishing that Europe is doing exactly the opposite: firmly closing its eyes to the strategic challenge posed by Turkey.
This autumn, the European Commission is scheduled to issue a progress report on accession negotiations with Turkey. A dangerous situation may well emerge, as this report threatens to derail the whole process.
The key dispute is over Cyprus. Turkey has refused to open its ports, airports and roads to the Republic of Cyprus, as it is obligated to do by the Ankara Protocol, which set the terms of Turkey’s accession negotiations. Turkey explains its refusal by the EU’s failure (as a result of a veto by the Greek Cypriot government in Nicosia) to fulfill its own promise to open up trade with Northern Cyprus, which is under Turkish rule. The EU made these promises at the Council of Europe in December 2003 and formally at the Council of Foreign Ministers in April 2004. But so far it has not fulfilled them. So it is Ankara--and not the EU!--that has a legitimate point here.
When the Ankara Protocol was agreed, the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoan achieved something that, until then, had been considered impossible: he shattered the decades-old opposition of Turkish Cypriots to a compromise between the two parts of the divided island. Turkish Northern Cyprus accepted UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s plan (massively supported by the EU) to resolve the long-standing conflict.
But the Greek South, goaded and inflamed by its government, rejected it. It would be deeply unjust and outright foolish if the EU Commission’s report holds Turkey responsible for its refusal to make further concessions to Greek Cyprus (now an EU member), while refusing to blame the government in Nicosia, which is the real cause of the blockage.
Some in the EU--mainly in France, Germany and Austria--seem smugly pleased by the prospect of a clash on this issue, believing it will force Turkey to give up its drive for membership. But this attitude is irresponsible. The EU is about to commit a grave strategic error by allowing its report this autumn to be guided by the shortsighted domestic policy considerations of some of its important member states.
Of course, there is vast domestic resistance to Turkey’s accession to the EU. The final result of the accession process is therefore an open question for both sides. Admittedly, Turkey has a long way to go. But to endanger this process here and now, in full awareness of the possible costs, is an act of very costly stupidity on the part of the Europeans--and stupidity is the worst sin in politics. In European-Turkish relations, two trains are racing headlong towards each other. Neither Turkey nor Europe can afford the all-too-foreseeable crash.
Joschka Fischer was Germany’s foreign
minister and vice chancellor from 1998 to 2005
PROJECT-SYNDICATE.ORG

http://www.iran-daily.com/1385/2676/html/dotcoms.htm#s177798

the Eu and Turkey are both looking for a way out...yes they are gonna blame Cyprus for the break up...but one needs to realise that, take the Cyprobs and kurds out and Turkey will still have trouble joining the EU...why?...because to Turkey harmonization is seeing as a sacrifice and the generals are far away from the EU...If Turkey joined the EU you could say that the islamists will have more freedom...this won't sit too well with the generals...on top of that they will lose power/priveledges...

Just recently the incoming chief of staff made noises about EU interference...yes a general...in the EU generals are not seen not alone making political statements...

the biggest thread to Turkey is Turkey herself...

Athens mulls Finnish plan for Cyprus
Gov’t optimistic, Nicosia mistrustful


THANASSIS STAVRAKIS/AP

European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn answers journalists’ questions during a press conference in Athens yesterday as Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis looks on. The two discussed Turkey’s EU prospects.

The government yesterday said it supported in principle a proposal by the European Union’s Finnish presidency to resolve a dispute with Turkey over its refusal to grant EU member Cyprus access to its harbors and airports. But Athens also stressed its loyalty to Nicosia.

“We support the efforts being made by the Finnish presidency while also sharing the approach of the Republic of Cyprus on this matter,” Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said after talks with visiting European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn.

Government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos was slightly more cautious in his support. “We feel this is a basis for further discussion,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rehn explicitly backed Finland’s initiative which reportedly foresees easing trade restraints on the Turkish-occupied north of Cyprus if Turkey agrees to open its ports to Cypriot craft and allow the return of some displaced Greek Cypriots to northern Cyprus. “The Finnish formula is the only game in town. We have to concentrate our minds and focus our efforts in supporting (it),” he said.

But the proposal inspired little enthusiasm in Nicosia. “This is an effort to help Turkey (implement its EU obligations) and surely Cyprus cannot be asked to pay the price,” Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos remarked. Nicosia is “under severe pressure to compromise on issues linked to the political integrity of (Cyprus) and on procedures boosting the independence of the Turkish Cypriot side,” a Cypriot diplomatic source told Kathimerini.

Turkey’s EU membership negotiator Ali Babacan, who was also in Athens yesterday, was also unconvinced by the Finnish proposal, which he said “is not a complete package.” But in Ankara, Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan said Turkey has adopted a “constructive approach” to talks on the plan.

As regards Turkey’s prospects for EU accession, Rehn was cautiously upbeat. “There is still time for Turkey to meet its obligations although it would have been far better if that had happened yesterday or last year,” he said after talks with Bakoyannis. The foreign minister stressed that Ankara’s EU-linked commitments “are not connected to other issues which concern the EU like trade regulations with the Turkish Cypriot community.”

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100002_20/10/2006_75630