Your Dec. 22 editorial on Turkey and the European Union misrepresented EU policy toward Turkey and the outcome of the Luxembourg summit meeting last month.
The EU has not, as you suggested, rejected Turkey’s application for membership. In fact, the EU did just the opposite. EU leaders specifically confirmed at Luxembourg that Turkey is eligible for accession to the EU and set out a strategy to prepare Turkey for accession. The Luxembourg Council also agreed to establish a European Conference to which all the applicants for membership, including Turkey, would be invited.
The reaffirmation of Turkey’s eligibility for accession, a strategy to help it prepare for accession and its invitation to the European Conference add up to a substantial package. We hope Turkey will respond positively. We in Britain will be doing all we can to take this forward during our presidency of the EU, which began Jan. 1.
