Turkey angry over EU summit cancellation

Date: 20/11/1997

WHEN is a summit not a summit? When Turkey says it is and the EU says it is not, judging by recent events.

Faced with endless internal disagreements over the Union's approach to the Mediterranean giant, European foreign ministers last week cancelled a key biannual summit with Ankara, deciding instead to hold an informal dinner with Turkish Foreign Minister Ismael Cem.

Turkey immediately objected, saying that it wanted its Association Council and that no excuses would make it change its mind. It now appears the Council could go ahead, but talk about nothing.

The reason given for the original cancellation was a complete lack of progress in designing an EU-Turkey 'customs union plus'.

European Commission proposals to increase trade in services had been resisted by Germany and others, who feared that they could lead to unwanted cross-border travel. In addition, Spain, Italy and Portugal had questioned proposals to increase agricultural commerce, especially in directly competitive areas like tomato concentrate and olive oil.

As a result, ministers felt that the Council should be postponed until they had agreed on what they wanted to talk about.

Apologising weakly for the cancellation, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jacques Poos quipped that a dinner would anyhow be "more fruitful than a meeting with 200 people in the same room".

Journalists and diplomats left wondering, as a result, why Association Councils were ever held at all were soon edified by the Turks. "If we do not have this Council, it might have a bad psychological effect," said an Ankara official the following day.

Faced with Turkey's insistence that the Council should go ahead, Luxembourg is trying to find at least some substantial items for it to debate, but so far has not had much luck. Greek sensitivities have made any political discussion almost impossible, and trade talks are off the agenda for several weeks.

The upshot is that the meeting will be little more than a photo opportunity. "This Council will clearly be more symbolic than practical," admitted one Commission expert.

However, the EU may feel the chill of a rather frosty Turkish reception to recent events. "They cannot even give us something as innocuous as an enhanced customs union," complained a Turkish diplomat. "The EU's lack of action shows that there is no political will to improve matters."

But, as in most international disputes, the absence of political compromise goes both ways. Turkey's critics point out that its persistent abuse of human rights and its intransigence over Cyprus remain a searing blot on its European copybook.