ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Sept 7 - EU Commissioner's Remarks On Turkey Raising Eyebrows.

In a speech at the University of Leidenlate, one of the EU's most outspoken commissioners Frits Bolkestein, raises controversy after he seemed to try to raise concerns that admitting Turkey to the EU will make Europe more Islamic. Bolkestein said that some predictions that Europe may be predominantly Islamic by the end of the century meant that the siege of Vienna in 1683, when troops repulsed Ottoman Turks, "will have been in vain". A spokesman for Bolkestein played down the comments, saying the remarks were hypothetical and that the commissioner did not oppose Turkey's proposed entry to the EU. But the timing of the remarks - as talks to consider Turkey's potential EU membership begin - raises questions about Bolkestein's motives during a period of intense nervousness and feverish negotiation across the Continent, with the focus on, among other things, Turkey's record on democracy and human rights. Bolkestein said: "The current trend warrants only one conclusion

the United States remains the sole superpower, China will become an economic giant, Europe is becoming more Islamic". Bolkestein, the eloquent and well-respected EU internal markets commissioner and an economic liberal, stirred a controversy in March when he said in a book that Turkey should remain outside the EU to be a buffer to protect Europe from Syria, Iran and Iraq. He will be among those voting when the Commission decides, in a report to be published Oct 6, whether to open Europe's gates to Turkey, a poor, mainly Muslim country of about 70m people. The issue is highly sensitive because of fears, chiefly among conservative Christian Democrat groups, that Turkey's admission could transform the nature of the EU. They are worried that Turkey could alter the union's balance of power because votes in the EU are determined largely by population, and Turkey would be one of its most populous nations. They are also worried it would drain Europe's budget; Bolkestein said admitting Turkey could strain the EU's farming and regional aid budgets to the limit. Within Europe, supporters of Turkish entry include the UK, Spain, and Italy, but France, Austria and Luxembourg have tried to block the process.