From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Fri Nov 06 2009 - 10:29:00 EST
Sudan leader's planned visit sparks Turkey-EU row
Fri Nov 6, 2009 1:36pm GMT
* Bashir's visit could be diplomatic crisis for Turkey
* Ankara says no plans to arrest Bashir
ANKARA, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Turkey's President Abdullah Gul accused the
European Union on Friday of "interfering" after the bloc asked Ankara to
reconsider a decision to invite indicted Sudanese President Omar Hassan
al-Bashir to an Islamic summit.
The exchange underscores the risk for EU candidate Turkey that Bashir's
plans to attend Monday's summit in Istanbul of the Organisation of the
Islamic Conference (OIC), in defiance of an warrant from the International
Criminal Court (ICC), could escalate into a diplomatic crisis with Brussels.
Muslim Turkey has not ratified the 2002 Rome Statute that established the
ICC, but it is under pressure to do so to bring it closer to EU standards.
Turkey, which has deepened commercial and energy ties with Sudan, has
announced it has no plans to arrest Bashir, who was indicted by the ICC in
March for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region.
In a diplomatic note seen by Reuters, Brussels asked Turkey to reconsider
its invitation to Bashir to attend the OIC summit.
Asked about the note, Gul told reporters: "What are they interfering for?
This is a meeting being held in the framework of the Organisation of the
Islamic Conference. It is not a bilateral meeting."
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is engaged in a standoff with the
West over Tehran's nuclear programme, has also said he will attend the
one-day meeting in Istanbul.
The summit will add to growing concerns in some Western circles that Turkey,
an OIC member and NATO country, is shifting away from its pro-Western
foreign policy.
Turkey, which opened EU membership negotiations in 2005, can hardly afford a
crisis with Brussels over Bashir's visit.
Ankara's accession bid has almost ground to a halt, partly due to Turkey's
failure to implement key reforms. Meanwhile, opposition to Turkey's EU bid
is growing in some member states who say the country does not fit in Europe.
(Reporting by Zerin Elci in Paris and Daren Butler in Istanbul; writing by
Ibon Villelabeitia; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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