Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan boycotted a planned press conference with his Danish counterpart on Tuesday in protest over the presence of a journalist he said was linked to Kurdish separatist guerrillas, according to a Reuters report.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said excluding the correspondent would have violated principles of freedom of expression in the European Union (EU), which Turkey aspires to join. "I told Erdogan that freedom of expression is fundamental when talking accession negotiations and to come nearer to membership," Rasmussen said.
Erdogan and Rasmussen were supposed to address a joint press conference after their meeting in the Danish capital, but Erdogan stayed away in protest at the presence of a journalist from the Danish-based Kurdish channel, Roj TV. Turkey has officially complained to Denmark that Roj TV is allowed to operate from the Nordic country. Danish police are currently investigating the station.
"According to Prime Minister Erdogan, Roj TV is controlled by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), an organisation which is listed on the European Union terror list. And according to Erdogan, Roj TV incites terrorism," Rasmussen said.
Erdogan later confirmed the reason for his decision to stay away, making clear he saw the issue not as one of free expression but of fighting terrorism. "We think differently (to the Danes) on this," he told a televised press conference on returning to Ankara. "We cannot accept a mentality which accepts terrorism in their country," he added.
Turkey's ambassador in Denmark, Fugen Ok, was one of 11 Muslim diplomats to write to Rasmussen on October 12 requesting that he censure Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Rasmussen declined to intervene saying freedom of the press was inviolable in Denmark. Rasmussen also declined to meet the 11 Muslim heads to discuss the matter.
European Union governments on October 3 agreed to start membership talks with Turkey to discuss its accession to the 25-member bloc. Negotiations with the applicant are expected to last at least a decade.
According to the Copenhagen criteria, formulated at a 1993 meeting in the Danish capital, Turkey must have a functioning market economy, have a democratic government that respects human rights, and must also fulfil the same state budgetary and debt criteria required of existing members in order to be considered for EU membership. It has overhauled much legislation to meet EU demands on human rights but faces continued accusations of torture and persecution, especially in the south-east where a Kurdish separatist rebellion killed 30,000 people over two decades.
European leaders, including Rasmussen, have also signalled Turkish economic and democratic reforms may not be enough to guarantee membership for the country of 72 million, suggesting the EU may not be able to absorb a nation of that size. Fifty-five per cent of Danes are opposed to Turkish EU membership, according to a poll conducted by Copenhagen-based Ramboell Management for Jyllands-Posten last week. The newspaper did not say how many people participated in the poll or give a margin of error.
