IV 
107TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 594
Supporting the efforts of the Republic of Turkey to join the European 
Union. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 16, 2002
Mr. WEXLER (for himself, Mr. WHITFIELD, and Mr. LANTOS) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Inter-
national Relations 
RESOLUTION 
Supporting the efforts of the Republic of Turkey to join 
the European Union.
Whereas the United States has long supported the efforts of 
the Republic of Turkey to join the European Union; 
Whereas the 1963 Ankara Agreement between Turkey and 
the European Union envisages the accession of Turkey to 
the European Union; 
Whereas Turkey has been and continues to be a strategic 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally of 
Western Europe and the United States and a strong 
leader in the international campaign against terrorism in 
all its manifestations; 
Whereas most European members of NATO also belong to 
the European Union and for several decades Turkey has
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been a full member of all major European institutions, 
including the Organization for Security and Cooperation 
in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, and the Orga-
nization for Economic Cooperation and Development 
(OECD); 
Whereas Turkey is one of 13 candidate countries seeking 
membership in the European Union; 
Whereas on August 3, 2002, Turkey passed historic, broad-
based reforms aimed at meeting the European Union’s 
political criteria for candidate countries (commonly re-
ferred to as the ‘‘EU Copenhagen political criteria’’) and 
bringing Turkish democracy into conformance with the 
standards of other Western European democracies; 
Whereas Turkey has made substantial progress toward full 
integration into the European Union, including by enter-
ing into a customs union with the EU effective January 
1, 1996—the only candidate country to have achieved 
such an arrangement with the EU; 
Whereas Turkey is the most venerable among the very few 
secular democracies in the Muslim world; 
Whereas on June 25, 2002, President George Bush stated 
that Republic of Turkey is a model for Muslims of a sec-
ular and democratic state; 
Whereas Turkey has consistently and resolutely taken bold 
steps to develop its democracy in the shadow of neighbors 
who represent some of the most sinister and repressive 
dictatorships in the world and who have often supported 
anti-Turkish and international terrorism; 
Whereas the territory of Turkey is geo-strategically crucial to 
Western interests and Turkey therefore must often risk
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its own security and economic stability for the sake of 
solidarity with the Western alliance; and 
Whereas on July 14, 2002, Deputy Secretary of Defense 
Paul Wolfowitz stated that Turkey’s full integration into 
European institutions is in the best interests of the peo-
ple of Turkey, the people of Europe, and of the United 
States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that—
(1) the United States should continue to sup-
port the efforts of the Republic of Turkey to join the 
European Union; and 
(2) the European Union should recognize Tur-
key’s comprehensive political and economic reforms 
and set a date for the initiation of accession negotia-
tions at the meeting of the European Council in Co-
penhagen to be held on December 12–13, 2002.
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