Meetings between the two leaders are rare. In fact, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Nicolas Sarkozy have met only once since the French conservative was elected president in May 2007. Their meeting prior to the launch of the Union for the Mediterranean in Paris, bringing together more than 40 nations from Europe and the Mediterranean region, was brief, lasting about 30 minutes, just like their earlier meeting on the sidelines of UN General Assembly in New York last September.
At the meeting Erdoğan urged Sarkozy, a staunch opponent of Turkey's membership in the European Union, to remain loyal to the membership pledges given to Ankara. He said in response that France would continue to work to ensure the accession talks will continue at a normal pace, according to a French source close to the meeting. Erdoğan also invited Sarkozy to visit Turkey to help improve dialogue between Ankara and the EU.
Sarkozy's fierce opposition to Turkey's membership in the union, saying the country belongs to Europe neither culturally nor geographically, had caused serious concerns in Ankara about the Union for the Mediterranean, a Sarkozy-backed initiative. The government delayed until the last minute a decision on whether to join the initiative and even whether to attend its launch in Paris, agreeing to take part only after Sarkozy phoned Erdoğan last week and gave highest-level assurances that Turkey's membership prospects will not be affected by the Mediterranean project. A draft statement to be released later in the day contains phrases that confirm Turkey's membership prospects.
But French assurances relating to the six months of its EU presidency do not mean Paris has lifted its objections to Turkish membership in the long run. French officials carefully underline that Paris will never agree to the opening of accession negotiations on five of the 35 negotiating chapters that it sees as being directly related to membership.
"The process is aimed at developing cooperation in the Mediterranean region. It does not constitute an alternative to our membership in the EU," Erdoğan said just before flying to Paris to attend the project's launch.
On Saturday, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Turkey would play an active role in France's Mediterranean initiative. "We think it will promote peace, stability and development in the region, and Turkey supports this initiative," he said.
France took over the EU presidency from Slovenia at the beginning of this month. Accession negotiations are expected to be opened on two more chapters before the French presidency ends at the end of this year. Sarkozy reaffirmed on Sunday that talks will begin on those chapters that are technically ready.
France expects democratic verdict in closure case
Erdoğan and Sarkozy also discussed a closure case against Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on charges of being a "focal point for anti-secular activities." Sarkozy said France expected Turkey's Constitutional Court, likely to announce its ruling in the coming months, to give a verdict that complies with the principles of the rule of law and a pluralist democracy.
The closure case, which the EU criticizes, is expected to further complicate Turkey's membership efforts and give ammunition to Turkey's opponents in arguing against its entry. Earlier this month, a senior source in Sarkozy's office said the case made Ankara's hopes of joining the EU more remote and confirmed French doubts about the possibility of integrating Turkey into the EU.
Erdoğan said he trusted the Constitutional Court and hoped for its ruling as soon as possible.
Sarkozy and Erdoğan also discussed Turkey's mediation between Syria and Israel. Sarkozy praised the Turkish role and said Paris and Ankara shared the same objectives.
[FACTBOX]
Mediterranean Union launched with high hopes
Leaders of 43 countries from the European Union and the Mediterranean region had the first summit of the Union for the Mediter-ranean on Sunday, an initiative launched by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The project is aimed at breathing new life into the existing Euro-Mediterranean partnership, known as the Barcelona process, and will create a more equal dialogue between the wealthy EU and the poorer states that line the Mediterranean.
"The goal of this summit for the Mediterranean, of this Union for the Mediterranean, is that we learn to love each other instead of continuing to hate each other and wage war," Sarkozy told a news conference. "The fact that everyone will be in the same room for the same meeting is in itself an historic event."
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said it was time the region put years of strife behind it and forge new ties with European Union states on the pressing issues of the day. "The project is quite simply about taking in hand the big challenges of the century ahead," he told a pre-summit meeting of foreign ministers from all the states involved. "Climate change, worsening of the environment, access to water and energy, migration, dialogue between civilizations -- the Mediterranean is at the heart of all the issues on which our future depends." Here are key facts about summit and project:
Members
Membership in the project is open to all states that border the Mediterranean, all members of the European Union and some others. They represent a total of nearly 1 billion people.
The French Foreign Ministry said leaders of the following countries were in attendance: Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Britain, Bulgaria, Greek Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, the Palestinian Authority, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa were also present. The new organization will have co-presidents from each side of the Mediterranean, initially France and Egypt, and a small secretariat, the location of which remains to be decided.
Projects
One of the main aims of the union, which carries the official name "The Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean," is to work on a series of practical projects, with each member state free to work on a project if it chooses. These projects, outlined in an annex to the draft joint declaration, are:
* De-pollution of the Mediterranean -- cleaning up the sea's waters and coastal areas, focusing on the water and waste sector.
* Sea and land highways -- improving connections between ports and supporting the creation of coastal motorways, possibly including a trans-Maghreb motorway linking countries on the sea's southern shore.
* Civil protection -- cooperating on the prevention, preparation and response to natural and manmade disasters.
* Alternative energy -- exploring the feasibility of a Mediterranean solar plan to develop solar power as an energy source, and supporting research and development into energy sources other than oil and gas.
* Education -- setting up a Euro-Mediterranean University, based in Slovenia, promoting academic mobility and joint degrees between member states' universities. French officials frequently refer to setting up an Erasmus of the Mediterranean, referring to a popular EU student exchange program.
* Mediterranean business initiative -- setting up a body to help small and medium-sized companies by providing them with technical assistance and financial instruments, using voluntary contributions from member states. Paris Reuters
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