THE NEXT SUPERPOWER? Press Room

Washington welcomes start of EU membership talks with Turkey
by Agence France-Presse
published October 4, 2005

The historic opening of membership talks between the EU and Turkey has been welcomed with a sigh of relief in Washington which hopes the move will help promote democracy in the Middle East and anchor the Muslim country more firmly to the West.

Though Washington has no ultimate say on Ankara's four-decade-old bid to join the 25-member bloc, it has actively lobbied for the accession talks to move forward, and on Tuesday hailed the European Union's decision to formally launch the discussions.

"I think it was important for October 3 not to be a failure," said Bulent Aliria, an expert on Turkey at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.

He was referring to the date set by the EU for the accession talks to begin, but which risked being derailed because of staunch last-minute opposition from Austria which ultimately backed down.

Aliria said although the membership talks could last 10 to 15 years, with no guarantee at the end of Turkey being admitted into the bloc, it was essential that the process had been launched.

"The US feared the negative consequences (of the talks not starting) rather than expected positive consequences," he said.

"Anchoring Turkey in the West firmly means that you worry that this ship is going to bop up and down in choppy seas so you anchor it firmly there."

Relations between Washington and Ankara have been close since the end of World War II, but they became strained after Turkey refused to allow US troops to deploy on its territory during the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Washington has since been working on revitalizing ties, with US special envoy Karen Hughes visiting Turkey last week as part of a trip to polish the image of the United States in the Muslim world.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for her part lobbied Turkish officials at the weekend to accept a deal with EU leaders on membership talks. She reportedly also urged Austrian officials to drop their bitter opposition to the accession talks and appealed to Cypriot leaders not to make waves.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Rice on Tuesday met with EU ambassadors in Washington and expressed support for the opening of the historic talks.

"She reiterated our view that we believe that a Turkey firmly anchored in Europe will best serve the interests of the trans-Atlantic family and will be an even more positive force for advancing peace, prosperity and democracy," McCormack said.

Rockwell Schnabel, a former US ambassador to the EU, said Washington only stood to gain from Turkey ultimately joining the European bloc in view of its economic and strategic importance.

"We see Turkey as a member of the EU to be a stabilizing factor between Europe and Asia and between Europe and the Muslim world," he said.

"We feel that if you have a positive influence through the EU in the Middle East, through a free and democratic Turkey that is doing well economically and otherwise, that would be very positive for Europe and ultimately for us," he added.