Italian president hints at Turkey's future EU role

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano called Turkey’s accession to the European Union a “strategic opportunity to strengthen the union’s role at the world level” in an address at Ankara University on the second day of his official visit.

Napolitano’s visit comes less than two weeks before the recently ratified Lisbon Treaty takes effect.

The EU has accepted Turkey as a candidate state to join the union, Napolitano noted. “I can openly and responsibly say that receding now from that formal decision would undermine the credibility of the union, and not only before the eyes of Turkey and its people,” he pointed out on Wednesday.

Napolitano said the “open-ended process” was not an excuse to suggest a privileged partnership to Turkey instead of full EU membership. “It is not even possible to exclude in advance that the outcome will be the accession of Turkey as a full member, and propose to Turkey a different and less-committing status when negotiations are still open and far from being closed,” he said.

“Turkey’s role in the vast and crucial region represents one of the main nodes of mutual interest,” the Italian president said.

The demographic, geopolitical and military weight of Turkey would contribute to the European dream of being a global actor, Napolitano said. “It is not difficult to grasp the importance of the accession of Turkey to the EU, both for the dynamism of its economy and for its potential contribution to the moderate evolution of the Muslim world by acting as a bridge between Europe and Islam,” he said.

Hinting at politically motivated vetoes to the opening of frozen chapters in the Turkey-EU negotiations, he said: “The ‘Europe puissance’ – Europe as a global actor – will remain a rhetorical expression if the union remains entrapped in the nostalgic claims of national states to keep imposing obstructions and powers of veto.”

The president added: “Overcoming these barriers and making a leap forward in the integration process has become urgent since none of them can now play alone an effective role in a world so strongly marked by the impetuous growth of new emerging powers.”

The Italian president concluded his speech by calling on Turkey to trust in Europe. “[I] hope that Turkey shares this vision, this dramatic call to be confident in the potential of Europe and to build together its fundamental ability to cope with future challenges,” Napolitano said.

After holding talks with President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin and main opposition-party leader Deniz Baykal, Napolitano will proceed to the Aegean province of İzmir in order to visit historical sites and meet with Italian citizens.