Sir,

The EU opened official accession negotiations with Turkey on 3 October 2005. But this was just the beginning of a long and open-ended process that should seek to build trust on both sides. The EU has a significant track record spanning many decades of co-operation with Turkey − and Turkey also boasts the second largest army within NATO. But despite this it is worth remembering that the union is not a military alliance − rather, it is a political union based on common values.

The EU’s negotiations with Turkey are being conducted in a fair and open manner, and this constructive approach has to be the right way to proceed. But this process should not lead automatically to Turkish membership. To begin with, current discussions are on hold for eight of the negotiating chapters. This doesn’t in any way reflect some sort of hidden EU agenda to effectively torpedo the talks. Rather, it reflects the fact that Turkey has until now been hesitant about applying the terms of the 1963 “Ankara Protocol” which deals with the matter of allowing open access to harbours and airports for ships and aircraft from Cyprus, which of course is now an EU member state. Turkey also has much work still to do on implementing European standards in areas like human rights, gender equality, the protection of religious minorities and civil control of the army. Progress remains outstanding, too, on measures to strengthen the independence of the judiciary and boost public confidence in it.

If Turkey complains of lack of progress in the accession negotiations, then the Turkish government must first ensure that the terms which it has already negotiated and freely committed itself to are being implemented. Turkey must also recognise that the promise of forthcoming reform is not enough in itself − after all, these measures are being pursued in the best interests of Turkey and the Turkish people.

Finally, and going beyond the Copenhagen criteria, the EU will have to consider carefully its capacity to integrate Turkey into the Union. The failure of any potential member state to properly integrate itself into the EU could undermine acceptance of the Union amongst its own citizens.

Mark Almond rightly alluded to the close co-operation between Turkey, Russia and Iran on energy. Against that background, and as a European politician, I feel compelled to draw attention to Europe’s own interests regarding foreign energy policy – these reflect the need for a fairly diverse list of supplier countries and regions, as well as transportation routes. For Turkey to follow an energy supply policy that is sensitive to the Union’s need for energy supply security would be a good basis for collaboration based on trust.