‘Mentality problem’ hits Turkish hopes

Date: 17/12/1998

By Simon Taylor

Turkey has a "mentality problem" which is making even friendly EU governments think hard about the prospect of Ankara joining the Union, according to a senior European Commission official.

Eric van der Linden, head of the Commission unit dealing with Turkey, says Ankara's recent attacks on Italy's refusal to extradite the captured Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan have provoked strong negative feelings among EU governments.

"The emotive reactions were a shock to many European governments," he said, adding that this had led to "hesitation in other member states" about Turkey's place in the enlargement process and a wish to "put a foot on the brake" where Ankara was concerned.

The official's comments at a conference on EU-Turkey relations in Brussels came as Ankara criticised Union governments for failing to give it a cast-iron guarantee that it was a candidate for EU membership at last weekend's Vienna summit.

Van Der Linden claimed that there was a "mentality problem" in Turkey which was acting as a barrier to better relations. He cited the recent boycotts of Italian goods by Turkish consumers and industry groups in protest over the Öcalan affair as an example of how Ankara's actions made it more difficult to achieve a productive dialogue with Turkey on improving relations.

Van Der Linden said that the Turkish should stop going into every EUsummit demanding to be treated as a de jure 12th candidate. He claimed Turkey was to blame for its frustrations over membership because Ankara was constantly "setting the bar too high".

At the Vienna summit, EU governments stressed the importance of the European Strategy for preparing Turkey for membership, but failed to state unequivocally that it was an applicant just like the other 11.

In a statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry at the weekend, Ankara said it would continue to refuse to discuss issues such as human rights, Cyprus and bilateral relations with Greece at EU level.

The ministry blamed Vienna's failure to give Turkey assurances it was being treated equally with other candidates, adding that the failure to put Ankara's application on a legally binding footing was hindering relations with the Union.