"Chirac says EU constitution, Turkey's EU bid are separate issuesDocument Actions 07/01/2005
French President Jacques Chirac on Friday urged voters not to reject the European Union's first constitution out of fear of Turkey's possible entry to the EU, saying the two issues were entirely separate. He also warned the country's politicians against turning the referendum on the bloc's first constitution, set to take place sometime before the summer, into an opportunity for domestic political mudslinging. 'There is of course the ever-present temptation in consultations of this nature to distort them. It is everyone's responsibility to refuse to give in to such distortion,' Chirac said at a New Year's reception for the press. 'I know all too well that there is also a temptation to twist the referendum for political gain. The stakes involved in the European constitution are national and European,' the French president said."
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