Chirac speaks on Turkish entry to EU, urges genuine Iraqi rule

By: Nabil Raza

PARIS, France: France has called for a swift and genuine return of sovereignty to Iraq within a framework set out by the UN and separately said that the conditions are not right for Turkish entry into the EU though its eventual membership was to be welcomed.

Speaking at a wide-ranging news conference at his Elysee Palace Thursday on the European Union and other issues, French President Jacques Chirac said: “It is urgent today to return sovereignty to the Iraqis… There is no possible solution that would lead to the reconstruction of Iraq without a genuine transfer of sovereignty under the effective control of the United Nations.”

His comments came after US Secretary of State Colin Powell said earlier this week an interim Iraqi government due to take power on June 30 would have to give up some of its sovereignty to allow a free hand to US-led armed forces.

“I believe that Turkey has a European vocation. But the conditions for its entry are not fulfilled today,” he said. Turkey “has always been associated with European civilization,” and is an “important and loyal member of the Atlantic alliance… It is in our political interest to have a modern, stable, democratic Turkey which has made the choice of secularism since 1924, a Turkey agreeing to share our aims and values.”

END