Turkish poll result sparks EU concern

Date: 22/04/1999

By Simon Taylor

TURKEY'S already poor relations with the EU could take a dramatic turn for the worse if caretaker Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit forms a coalition with the far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP), which won the second highest number of seats in last weekend's elections.

One senior European Commission official expressed concern that the election results would mean a more nationalistic government in Ankara. He singled out Cyprus as one area where a more aggressive Turkish line would make a solution harder, adding: “Openings on Cyprus will not be in the offing.”

But the official said a true picture would only emerge when the new government agreed its political programme, a process which could take several weeks. “A stable coalition is not likely to be the outcome,” he added.

Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has stressed, however, that the EU wants to maintain relations with Ankara. “We will try even harder to continue the dialogue,” he insisted, adding that there would be an opportunity for discussions at this weekend's NATO summit in Washington.

In the weekend elections, the ultra-nationalist and authoritarian MHP won the second-largest number of seats after Ecevit's Democratic Left Party.

Turkey's recent capture of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan not only boosted Ecevit's fortunes but also strengthened the nationalist mood in the country, increasing support for the MHP.

Analysts said MHP's showing meant that there was no hope of Ecevit forming a two-way coalition with Mesut Yilmaz' Motherland Party, which would have offered the best chance for a thaw in relations between the EU and Ankara.

Dr James Ker-Lindsay, Turkish expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London, described the result as “very bad news for EU-Turkey relations”.