Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-13-Speech-1-073"
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"en.20041213.10.1-073"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I too would like to thank the rapporteur. A lot of people have already said that, but it still needs to be repeated, for the task of bringing together the contradictory amendments really was not a straightforward one. I would like to start by addressing both the Eurlings report’s detractors and those who have been opposed to accession negotiations from the outset. There are two arguments that they frequently adduce. One of them has to do with culture, and if you follow it to its conclusion, you end up attributing differing status to religions and cultures in the European Union, and that bears no relation whatever to the European Union that most of us want. A European Union in which one religion is worth more than another, one in which there are superior and subordinate cultures, has nothing to do with the Treaties of Rome.
The second argument has to do with our over-stretching ourselves, and it is, admittedly, a very important one, one that has to be taken seriously – and also by those of us who are defenders of the Eurlings report and of the enlargement of the European Union. It just so happens, though, that we cannot allow ourselves some time out and take a break from world history in order to work on ourselves. The world will not wait for us, nor will the challenges of fundamentalism and international terrorism wait until the European Union has become deep enough. We have to tackle, at one and the same time, the enlargement of the European Union and the deepening of European integration.
Let me address those of us who are in favour. By being so, we are committing ourselves to joining with civil society in Turkey in ensuring that Turkey becomes a country free of every kind of torture. We are thereby committing ourselves to ensuring that, in Turkey, Kurds, Circassians, Lazs and others can use their mother tongues as well as the official language of the country. We are making a commitment that every woman in Turkey will be free to go to school, free to choose her partner and to live in a partnership free of any sort of violence. Finally, we are committing ourselves to joining with our friends in Turkey in ensuring that, in Turkey, the Christian churches and all the various faith communities, from Alevis to Sunnis can, together, flourish as they once did during the history of the Ottoman Empire, and that involves the aspiration that the number of Christians should no longer decline, but begin a renewed increase. That too would strengthen a multi-cultural and multi-faith Turkey.
Turkey, too, is entering into an obligation; it is committing itself, through ongoing reforms, to helping us win over the hearts and minds of the European public."@en1
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