Personal tools
EnlargementInformation about the enlargement of the European Union. Turkey's Accession Negotiations: Where Armenians Fit InThe first anniversary of the start of Turkey’s EU accession negotiations, October 3, passed in an atmosphere of gloom and uncertainty.
This anniversary was also marked by French President Jacques Chirac’s declaration, unprecedented for an EU Head of State, calling on Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide before it joins the European Union. This year the European Parliament also forcefully repeated its own call for genocide recognition. Yet in spite of the French President’s recent change of heart, recognition of the Armenian genocide is not one of the conditions for Turkey’s EU membership and it does not even feature on the agenda of official Turkey-EU discussions. Furthermore, the EU has apparently not communicated to Ankara that it will have to establish relations with Armenia if it hopes to join the EU one day. How can such inconsistencies be explained? How do the European institutions in Brussels approach these questions? And under which powers and policies does the EU address them, if at all? 
Map of the EU In this sectionInformation about the enlargement of the European Union. The Mechanics of AccessionThe accession negotiations consist essentially in adapting the candidate country’s (in this case, Turkey’s) legislation and practices to the EU’s. But politics also play a role, including on a number of sensitive issues, such as Cyprus. Europe's Neighbourhood Policy: A First Step Towards Armenia's European Integration?Europe is at last focussing on its relations with Armenia. What prospects does that relationship offer? This file was prepared jointly by the Inside Europe, Les Nouvelles d'Arménie and Orer. Document Actions |
|
At the end of September, the European Parliament
had passed a severe judgement on this first year of talks, and noted a
slowdown in Turkey’s reform process. The European Commissioner in
charge of the file, Olli Rehn, made a similarly gloomy assessment, and
warned that the dispute over Cyprus risks causing a “train crash” if
Turkey continues to refuse to establish trade relations with Cyprus, a
member of the EU.
