CHIRAC
PARIS, (Reuters):
FRENCH PRESIDENT Jacques Chirac yesterday reiterated his support for Turkey's accession to the European Union, but said Ankara must conform to the bloc's values if it wants negotiations to result in full membership.
He also made a veiled attack on domestic critics including the leader of his own party, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, saying opponents of Turkey's entry were trying to prejudge the issue and take decisions that belonged to future generations.
"Will (Turkey) succeed? I don't know. What is clear, is that she will need time, a lot of time, 10-15 years at least," Chirac told a news conference after talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
"Will she succeed? I don't know. I hope so, but I'm not at all sure. So let's be elegant enough -- that is also in our interests -- to discuss this," Chirac said.
For his part, Berlusconi said that Europe had "a chance that we should not let go by, to create a bridge between the West and the Arab and Muslim worlds."
FIRST MAJOR SPEECH SINCE ILLNESS
Chirac, giving his first major news conference with a visiting dignitary since a brief illness early last month, spoke the day after the EU launched membership talks with Turkey.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who has softened his stance since suggesting in August that Turkey should recognise EU member Cyprus before starting membership talks, later appealed for calm in the Turkey debate.
"Should Turkey join Europe? That question remains open," he said during parliamentary questions. He said negotiations, closely monitored by all 25 member states, would be long and tough and French voters could exercise a veto in a referendum.
Opinion polls show French voters overwhelmingly oppose Ankara's entry, putting Chirac at odds with public opinion.
Sarkozy, a presidential hopeful, has led opposition to Turkey's entry. He says Ankara should be offered a "privileged partnership" -- a special trading relationship -- with the 25-nation bloc instead of full membership.
"When I hear some people say 'the French people don't want (Turkish EU membership)', what allows them to say what the French people will want in 15 years' time?," Chirac, who has not said if he will run again in 2007, said in a clear reference to his rival.
