World News 17-12-2004 Date Set For Turkey Talks who: Tony Blair what: Will spearhead talks on introducing Turkey to the EU when: October 3rd 2005 snippet: "After more than 40 years of waiting, Turkey was yesterday invited to start European Union membership talks next year," says The Independent, "after European leaders agreed to impose a series of tough conditions on the negotiations." "The offer was announced after the EU`s 25 leaders agreed that Turkey should start membership negotiations on October 3 2005," says The Financial Times. "They are likely to take at least 10 years to complete but for the first time Turkey can see a clear route to a European future." There are a number of conditions to the talks, most notably that "Turkey will be required to implicitly recognise Cyprus as an independent country," says The Times, "Turkish citizens will not be guaranteed the right to live and work around the EU, and membership negotiations will not necessarily lead to full membership if some EU countries still hold reservations." The Telegraph says that tourists who flock to Turkish resorts could wasily confuse it with "holiday spots in Spain, Italy or France" but "the heavily Kurdish hinterland" is "a starkly different Turkey... It is this part of the country that most desperately wants to join the European Union - but it is also the part that scares Europeans the most." "Nearly 40 per cent of women are illiterate and dozens are murdered by male relatives each year for `dishonouring` their families with such crimes as leaving home unaccompanied," writes Amberin Zaman. "One marriage in 10 is polygamous, even though polygamy is banned, and a 15-year separatist rebellion has left a trail of destruction and death." [... more]

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