Malta calls for clarification over Turkish Speaker's comments

Malta yesterday asked the Turkish government for a clarification over comments made by the Speaker of the Turkish Parliament Bulent Arinc.

Speaking to The Times, Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Frendo said Malta is trying to understand what the Turkish Speaker wanted to imply with his comments.

Dr Frendo denied that Malta was given any favourable treatment by the EU as a candidate country. On the contrary, he said, Malta spent 14 years as a candidate country before joining the EU.

"I think the Turkish Speaker must be misinformed because the EU dealt with Malta in the same way as it was dealing with the other candidate countries. I cannot see why Malta was singled out." During an interview on the Turkish television NRT on Thursday, Mr Arinc accused the EU of double standards as evidence by "the different way the EU dealt with Malta, Bulgaria and Romania and how it is dealing with Turkey".

In spite of these comments Malta pledged to keep supporting the opening of accession negotiations with Turkey.

Dr Frendo described relations between Malta and Turkey as excellent.

Asked to comment on Mr Arinc's remarks, a spokesman for the Turkish Embassy to the EU in Brussels told The Times the Turkish Speaker was not implying that Malta was given any preferential treatment but was only making the argument that from the EU side, Turkey and Malta were different because of their size and their impact on the EU. He said this did not mean that Turkey should be granted any preferential treatment.

EU foreign ministers will be meeting in Luxembourg tomorrow for last minute talks in an attempt to try to solve the current impasse over the start of negotiations with Turkey scheduled for Monday.

Dr Frendo will not be participating in the meeting because he will be accompanying Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to Washington for a meeting with President George Bush on Monday. In his absence Malta will be represented by its permanent representative, Richard Cachia Caruana.