EPP poised to open door to Turkey’s ruling party

By David Cronin

Date: 07/10/04

TURKEY'S ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party is poised to join the EU's most influential political grouping, the European People's Party, despite the opposition of some senior EPP figures to the country's EU entry ambitions.

EPP President Wilfried Martens, the former Belgian prime minister, told European Voice that he would be supporting the AK Party's application for associate membership of his group when the leaders of its affiliated parties meet on 4 November.

If a majority backs his proposal, the moderately Islamic party would be accepted into the fold of a party that has prided itself on its Christian Democrat identity since its inception in the 1950s.

Martens said: "They accept our basic programme, so it is evident that we have to collaborate. They have no difficulty with the values in our basic programme."

The AK Party opened contacts with the EPP about affiliation 18 months ago but, this summer, Erdogan went to the European Liberal Democrats summit, against a background of difficulties with the EPP.

National parties within the EPP have argued over whether to back opening negotiations with Turkey for admission to the EU, with German Christian Democrats opposed and other nations, such as Spain and Sweden, supportive.

An internal EPP document, seen by this newspaper, states that there are Islamic "hints" in AK's programme. These include references to Allah and a statement that the party "attributes a special importance to Turkey's relations with Islamic countries".

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote to Martens last month, stating that he accepted that the EPP is committed to a "Christian view of mankind and a Christian Democratic concept of society".

"The AK Party will abide by this provision to the extent that this is allowed by its own statute and in conformity with the constitutional treaty of the EU," wrote Erdogan.

Following a long debate, no mention of Europe's Christian roots has been included in the EU constitution to avoid alienating the Union's religious minorities or countries, such as predominantly Muslim Turkey or Bosnia, which could join the EU.

The EPP paper declares that acceptance of the AKP as a member "will help bring Turkey closer to Europe".

Despite the positive comments towards the ruling party in Ankara, the EPP-ED leader in the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering yesterday (6 October) criticized Günter Verheugen, the enlargement commissioner, for accepting Erdogan's assurances about the country's human rights record. Pöttering described Verheugen's claim that torture is no longer systematic in the country's places of detention as "the biggest nonsense heard in 2004".

He called for the option of a 'privileged partnership' to be held open to Turkey as an alternative to full membership of the EU. Pöttering belongs to the EPP's most influential member party, the German Christian Democrats (CDU), one of the most vociferous forces against Turkish accession.

MEP Elmar Brok, who chairs a working group on European policy for the CDU, said that if his party supports the AK Party's bid to join the EPP, this "should not be defined as giving up reservations on [Turkey's EU] membership".

But he did not think that the Christian Democrat orientation of the EPP would be undermined by reaching out to a party which emerged from the openly Islamic Welfare Party.

Brok pointed out that the EPP has already had formal ties with the Motherland Party, founded by one-time Turkish premier Turgut Ozal.

Associate membership of the EPP would give the AK Party the same status as its affiliated parties from the ten new member states before they joined the EU on 1 May.

Many in the EPP, whose member parties form the backbone of governments in 18 EU countries, do not ascribe to the CDU view on Turkey.

"Closing the door on Turkey would be a historic mistake," said Gunnar Hökmark, the leader of the Swedish delegation in the EPP-ED.

The EPP paper also warns of adverse consequences if EU leaders do not give Turkey a date for opening accession negotiations at their December summit. Any perceived rejection of Ankara's bid could "result in a nationalist anti-EU outburst", it notes.

"This could easily spark a backlash against the AK Party, strengthening the traditional nationalist parties," it says.

It also attributes the AK Party's electoral successes - such as its landslide in the 2002 general election and its robust performance in municipal elections this year - to the way "it has passionately pursued EU membership".

Erdogan, it adds, has attracted support from a broad spectrum of society, comprising religious and non-religious voters, as well as members of ethnic minorities, including many Kurds.

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party is poised to join the EU's most influential political grouping, the European People's Party, despite the opposition of some senior EPP figures to the country's EU entry ambitions. Article is quoting senior EPP figures' positive comments.

EPP-ED: Homepage http://www.epp-ed.org/home/en/default.asp

---