Friday, April 29, 2005

JTW News - In policy shift, Ankara turns tables to criticize the European Union

"In policy shift, Ankara turns tables to criticize the European Union
View: Zeynep Gurcanli

This week's partnership council meeting between Turkey and European Union could be described as a cornerstone in the critical process towards the beginning of Ankara's accession negotiations, scheduled for Oct. 3.

During the meeting in Luxembourg, the Turkish government changed its strategy towards the European Union, abandoning a defensive stance in favor of a more aggressive approach to the criticisms of the Union. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, who represented Turkey at the partnership council meeting, faced all the criticisms and expectations of European ministers on human rights, religious minority rights, and Cyprus, by underlining the EU's own deficiencies in all these fields."

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