Nederlands kabinet verdeeld over toetreding Turkije (en)

A serious conflict has arisen within the Dutch cabinet over Turkey's bid for membership of the European Union.

According to Dutch media on Friday and Saturday (30 and 31 January), at least two Dutch cabinet ministers resisted the idea of Turkey becoming a member of the EU on cultural grounds.

The ministers for the Interior and Agriculture argue that Turkey as an Islamic country should not be allowed to form part of the EU.

Other, mainly liberal, ministers have political rather than cultural objections to Turkish EU membership. Finance minister Gerrit Zalm predicts a sum of around 1 billion euro to be paid by Dutch taxpayers on EU subsidies to the Turks.

However, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende stated on Friday (30 January) that the EU should enter negotiations with Turkey if it meets the EU's political and human rights criteria.

Mr Balkenende said that Turkey has been an official EU candidate member since the Helsinki Summit (1999) and that it should be treated according to the principle of "fair play".

Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, a former Dutch ambassador to Turkey, is a supporter of Turkish EU membership as well. He said that allowing Turkish accession would mean a "European gesture of good will towards the Islamic world".

The cabinet is expected to discuss the issue at a special meeting later this month, but De Volkskrant quotes one cabinet minister as saying this meeting will be "hopeless" as the cabinet is "completely divided".

At a summit in Copenhagen in December 2002, the EU leaders promised the Turkish government that accession talks would start "without delay", if Turkey meets the political criteria two years later - in December 2004.

This decision will be made under the Dutch Presidency of the EU which begins on 1 July.

The European Commission will release an important report on the political and human rights situation in Turkey in autumn.