French President Nicolas Sarkozy is sending Jean Pierre Jouillet, minister responsible for European Union affairs to convince Turkey to participate in the Union for the Mediterranean.
A scheme to increase cooperation between the European Union and the countries in the Mediterranean basin, the Union for the Mediterranean is a French proposal, perceived by Turkey as an alternative to its membership in the EU. Sarkozy has also asked Pierre Lelouche, a member of the parliament from France's ruling party, Union for a Popular Movement party (UMP) to prepare a report on Turkish-French relations.
Sarkozy's call to establish a Mediterranean Union, as it was called initially, coincided with his explicit statements opposing Turkey's entry to the European Union, has irked Turkey, which so far has not accepted France's offer to participate.
France is inviting all the countries around the Mediterranean rim, including Libya, Syria and Israel, to a European Union summit in Paris on July 13 and they are expected to take part in a Euro-Mediterranean Bastille Day military parade with European troops the next day, reported the British newspaper Sunday Times, quoting Henri Guaino, one of the closest advisers to the French president on Sunday.
Despite assurances from the French government that the Union for the Mediterranean will not be an alternative to Turkey's membership, Ankara's suspicions that this is a plot to keep Turks out of the EU have not dissipated.
The French on the other hand would like to see Turkey participate, as it is one of the most important countries in the Mediterranean basin. The fact that Sarkozy decided to send a minister as his special envoy to Ankara, is perceived by Turkish diplomatic sources as Paris' high interest to see Turkey included in the scheme.
The idea of Club Med has not only irked Turkey's friends in the EU like Britain and Sweden but has also annoyed Germany, which fears that France is creating a new sphere of influence with EU money.
Sarkozy's original idea envisioned an economic, political and cultural partnership exclusive to states bordering the Mediterranean Sea, such as Italy and Spain. But this vision has been watered down, as a compromise reached within the 27-nation bloc at a summit in March, made the Union for the Mediterranean open to more members in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East while making it harder to bridge the differences among them.
Jouillet will try to yet again convince his Turkish counterparts of the merits of the new cooperation mechanism. Although the Turkish government has not yet taken a final decision on the subject, many within the bureaucracy favor Turkey's participation in the scheme convinced that the new version does not pose a threat to Ankara's accession process.
For many Union for the Mediterranean will be little more than a new political umbrella in the existing Euro-Mediterranean partnership launched 13 years ago in Barcelona. It will be wrong to stay out of such a scheme. Since it is not going to threaten the Turkish accession process, there is no need to antagonize the French further, said a Turkish diplomat.
