Ahern Welcomes Turkey

By Mairead Carey

Foreign Minister, Dermot Ahern has welcomed the deal reached in Luxembourg this week which will see the start of negotiations with Turkey to allow the predominantly Muslim country to join the European Union.

The negotiations, which will take at least 10 years to conclude, could see Turkey with its population of 70 million people becoming the largest state in the EU.

But there has been widespread skepticism about the move, and it was only after 30 hours of intense negotiations that foreign ministers finally overcome objections to start the negotiation process.

Ahern said he welcomed the deal to start talks with Turkey.

“Turkey is a bridge between the Middle East and Europe,” he said.

“This will send a strong signal to Islam and moderate countries and people (that) the EU is not just a Christian club.”

Although there has been little debate about Turkish accession to the EU in Ireland, Ahern said he was confident that it would receive the support of the Irish, saying there would be at least 10 years to educate people.

There is widespread opposition to the move across Europe. A recent opinion poll found that 80% of Austrians do not want Turkey to join, with just 10% in favor.

Several other EU member states such as France, the Netherlands and Denmark are also concerned about allowing Turkey to join the EU.

Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers have also signaled that they are ready to begin accession talks with Croatia which is likely to join the EU well before Turkey.

Ireland has been a strong supporter of Croatia’s bid to join the EU.