Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-01-18-Speech-4-155"
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"en.20010118.8.4-155"2
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"Mr President, the resolutions of three political groups were withdrawn during the last part-session under obscure circumstances and today we are debating a joint motion for a resolution by five groups on the same subject. This is not the time to assess what has happened and what has changed and what we perhaps encouraged with our attitude. Turkey is a candidate country for membership of the European Union. However, there is evidence of doublespeak on several counts and the matter is very serious. I personally am in favour of Turkey's European prospects. However, we have noticed – even recently – that people who have played and who still play an important role in European developments, such as former chancellors Kohl and Schmidt, tend to be in favour of Turkey's European prospects when they are talking as politicians but, when speaking at private seminars and conferences, maintain that Turkey has no place in the European Union.
This conflict of words paints us into a political corner. Perhaps, politically, it helps those who we say want an economic Europe; however, it does not help the political Europe which interests the European Parliament. So as long as certain parties behave in a way which gives the impression that the system which currently has the upper hand in Turkey could take hold in Europe, then we are again painted into a corner. Why? Because every time we look for arguments against Turkey's European prospects, we find them in Turkey's failure to adapt to European practices. And the prospect of adaptation must be an absolute effort as far as we are concerned.
Ladies and gentlemen, we must be absolute and we must be fair: absolute as regards compliance with European criteria by Turkey, as regards its prospects, and fair as regards the way in which we control them. This policy serves us, it serves Turkey and it serves its people. If, for any reason, we are not absolute on matters of respect for human rights, democracy, freedom and, at the same time, compliance with international law, then we shall not be doing either ourselves or Turkey any favours."@en1
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