Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-11-14-Speech-2-070"
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"en.20001114.3.2-070"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the explanatory statement of General Morillon’s report states that the decision on Turkey’s accession is too important for the future of the Union and of Turkey itself to be concluded in smoke-filled back rooms or behind closed doors. I fully agree with this statement, but I would say that the decision by the Helsinki European Council to grant Turkey applicant country status was not preceded by the essential debate – both public and parliamentary – that General Morillon’s explanatory statement also calls for.
Turkey’s candidature has always divided European opinion and I find it surprising that there is still an ongoing debate on the reasons for changing the traditional position of reserve with which this candidature has always been viewed. There is, of course, the geographical problem. Have we forgotten that only a small part of Turkish territory falls within the European continent? What new doctrine on the European area allows us to frame this new concept of external borders that would result from including Turkey in the European Union? Europe’s borders are now peaceful but, if Turkey does one day join the European Union, Europe will have a new border; not just an extra-European border, but a border of war and conflict. One only needs to think of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Armenia and Georgia.
Furthermore, how can we resolve the conflict with the common democratic model that Europeans accept and wish to see, which results from the countless restrictions we see in Turkey on people exercising their fundamental rights, of which the maintenance of the death penalty is merely the worst example? And what of the Kurdish question, which arises from the fact that the Turkish State does not respect the basic rights of cultural identity of the millions of Kurds that live there?
Lastly I do not feel that questions have been asked concerning the size of the actual population represented by Turkey’s candidacy and the difficulties that this will cause, not only in terms of the Union’s geography but especially in terms of the already delicate balance between large, medium-sized and small Member States. I shall conclude as I began: the idea and purpose of my speech have been to draw attention to the fact that changes on this scale should not take place without a democratic, ongoing debate, otherwise the deficit in citizenship and participation that many Europeans feel with regard to the model of European construction will continue to grow."@en1
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