France faces EU-Turkey ‘gamble’

Negotiating EU entry with Turkey is a “big gamble,” French president Jacques Chirac has said.

Speaking after a summit of European leaders on Friday, the French premier said Turkey’s road to EU entry was proving predictably difficult.

“Turkish entry is difficult I have always said that. It is a big gamble,” he told reporters.

“But it is necessary for the stability of the region and that is why I am in favour of negotiations.”

Paris has come under fire in Ankara for pushing the EU to freeze eight of the country’s 35 negotiating chapters.

But Chirac insisted the EU was obliged to react to Turkish recalcitrance over the Cyprus issue.

“We need to react to Turkey’s failure to respect the Ankara Protocol,” he said.

“The EU’s reaction was balanced. We suggested that reaction and we pushed for it,” he added.

Last week EU foreign ministers put the brakes on Turkey’s entry bid by freezing eight negotiating chapters and refusing to close any others until Turkey implements full customs union with Cyprus.

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