Chirac to talk Turkey on French TV

Jacques Chirac will appear on French television on Wednesday night to explain the case for opening EU entry talks with Turkey.

Facing an electorate strongly hostile to Turkish entry hopes, the French president, in an unprecedented move, will be interviewed on French news channel TF1 on why he favours opening talks.

A recent opinion poll in Le Figaro, showed that almost three quarters of French voters oppose Turkish entry, with the greatest resistance from within Chirac’s own UMP party.

The premier is hoping that his TV appearance, days before a crunch EU summit on Turkey, will placate the hostile backlash against Turkish membership which threatens to leave the president out of step with French public opinion and politically isolated within his own party.

He is expected to reassure voters by emphasising that negotiations with Ankara will be open-ended, will not lead to automatic entry, and to reiterate that French voters will be given their say in a referendum on Turkish membership.

The premier will also try to downplay concerns over Ankara’s human rights record, concerns which have largely been highlighted by France’s insistence that Ankara acknowledges its role in the alleged genocide of up to 1.5 million Armenians in 1915.

Chirac has consistently supported Turkish EU aspirations, a position that may come to haunt the premier in next year’s referendum on the EU constitution and during the 2006 French presidential elections.

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