Ocalan row casts shadow over EU-Turkey relations

Date: 26/11/1998

By Simon Taylor

THE row over Italy's refusal to extradite Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan has soured EU-Turkish relations just as efforts are being made to foster closer ties between the two.

European Commission President Jacques Santer warned this week that the Union could impose retaliatory sanctions on Ankara if it finds that a threatened boycott of Italian goods has the government's support.

The threat follows Rome's refusal to extradite Ocalan, leader of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party, to face trial in Turkey. Santer said an official boycott would breach the country's association agreement with the EU and the 1995 customs union.

But officials admit it could be difficult to take action against a selective boycott.

So far, the Turkish authorities have banned two Italian cable channels from being shown on television in Turkey, broken off all military ties with Rome and announced plans to exclude Italian arms manufacturers from supplying the country's armed forces.

Commission officials say television programmes are not covered by the EU-Turkey customs union and, although it includes rules on open competition for government contracts, these do not apply to military products.

As Turkey's second-largest trade partner in the EU, Italy could lose a major part of its export business in the event of a boycott. Major Turkish supermarket chain Gima has already announced that it will stop selling Italian goods and orders for 1,000 cars produced by a Fiat joint venture in Ankara have been cancelled.

Italian law forbids detainees being extradited to countries which still have the death penalty on their statute books. Turkey says this punishment has not been used since 1984 and steps are underway to abolish the legislation.

Last weekend, the Austrian presidency issued a statement expressing the Union's "full solidarity with Italy in her determination to fully implement her laws and treaty obligations".

The dispute comes as the Commission is seeking member states' approval for 150 million ecu of funding to help Turkey prepare itself for eventual EU membership.