Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Sat 11 Nov 2002Turkey in EU would end Union, declares GiscardEU: The man presiding over the Convention of the Future of Europe set fire to one of the most contentious issues in European politics yesterday when he asserted that to admit Turkey as a member of the European Union would herald the end of the Union itself.According to Mr Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, a former president of France: "Turkey is a country close to Europe, an important country . . . but it is not a European country. Its capital is not in Europe, it has 95 per cent of its population outside Europe."