British Foreign Secretary and President of the EU Council Jack Straw, second left, smiles, as he poses with Turkey's counterpart Abdullah Gul, second right, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn, left, and Turkey's Minister of State Ali Babacan, right, at the end of an EU foreign ministers council in Luxembourg, early Tuesday morning, Oct.4, 2005.(Xinhua/AFP photo)

     The European Union (EU) andTurkey began their first ministerial meeting on the opening of Turkey's accession talks, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw announced in the early hours of Tuesday.

    "We have just made history," Straw told a press conference. "We've had the first ministerial meeting on the opening of accession negotiations."

    He said in a jocular way that they were able to meet the Oct. 3

    deadline set by EU leaders in December because he began to speakbefore midnight London time. "This is presidency time," said Straw amid laughter from journalists.

    Britain holds the EU rotating presidency.

    Straw said the first ministerial meeting began with an openingstatement by him, following by a statement of EU commissioner forenlargement, Olli Rehn and one from Turkish Foreign MinisterAbdullah Gul. Then the first formal session of inter-governmentconference of accession negotiations was declared open, Straw told the press conference.

    The first meeting is seen to be symbolic.

    Straw played down religious differences between Turkey, a Muslimcountry, and the EU, which is basically Christian, saying that the

    EU was built on values, not religion.

    Gul said it is a win-win situation for his country and the EU aswell as the world.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul attends a European Union foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg October 4, 2005.(Xinhua/AFP photo)

    Gul promised that reforms required by the EU will continue.

    "Turkey is determined to carry on with the reforms" with orwithout EU because Turkish people want them, said Gul.

    He said 10 years later, Turkey will be different and will becomean asset of the EU. Accession talks are expected to last at least adecade.

    He asked the EU to keep its promises and pledged his countrywill keep its own.

    Gul sidestepped questions on Cyprus and Greece, a thorny issuein Turkey's accession talks.

    The foreign minister said he hoped for a comprehensivesettlement of the Cyprus issue under the auspices of the UnitedNations. On relations with Greece, he said they were not too badand that there were even contacts between the two military.

    Ankara refuses to recognize the Greek-Cypriot government in the

    south, which represents the whole Republic of Cyprus in the EU, andwants independence of the Turkish-Cypriot north.

    Rehn described the opening of talks as a new era in EU'srelations with Turkey.

    The accession talks were opened after EU foreign ministersstruck a deal on Monday night after more than 30 hours ofnegotiations among the EU foreign ministers. Gul rushed toLuxembourg for the formal beginning of the talks.

    Straw and 23 of his colleagues had to persuade Ursula Plassnik,

    the foreign minister of Austria, to drop Vienna's demand thatTurkey should be granted a "privileged partnership" instead of fullmembership, should entry talks fail at the end.

    Turkey had been unequivocal on its stand that such an option wastotally unacceptable. Gul chose to wait in Ankara for news fromLuxembourg until the last minute.

    Austria finally accepted the clause without mentioning the term "membership" in the negotiating framework, which sets ground rules and procedures for the negotiations.

    The clause now reads: "The shared objective of the negotiationsis accession. There negotiations are an open-ended process, the outcome of which cannot be guaranteed beforehand."

    But Turkey was promised that it will be "fully anchored in theEuropean structures through the strongest possible bond" if Turkey

    is not in a position to assume in full all the obligations ofmembership.

    On the open-endedness of the talks, Gul told the pressconference early Tuesday that nobody can guarantee talks will lead to membership.

    Ankara first asked to join the EU in 1963. The EU said yes in1999 and at a summit in December 2004, EU leaders decided to launchmembership negotiations with Turkey this Monday.

    Under EU's rules, Turkey's entry needs the nod from all 25 EUmember states. Austria's insistence on a "privileged partnership"therefore becomes the last hurdle.

    Turkey signed a protocol in July to extend its customs unionagreement to the 10 new EU member states, including Cyprus,satisfying the conditions for the start of membership talks.

    However, Ankara said at the same time that the signing of theprotocol did not mean any form of political recognition of Cyprus.

    The statement runs against EU rules that a new member state mustrecognize all its existing members.

    The EU governments issued a compromise counterstatment lastmonth, allowing Turkey to recognize Cyprus before it formally joinsthe EU, thus saving the process from derailment. Enditem 

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