icWales, UK
May 2 2005

Turkey pressed to continue reform

icWales

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has assured Turkey that
membership negotiations with the European Union will start as
scheduled on October 3, but has warned it must not go back on
reforms, according to an interview published in a Turkish newspaper
today.

Schroeder, who has long backed Turkey’s bid to join the bloc, was
speaking ahead of his trip to Turkey, which begins on Tuesday.

There have been concerns that a recent slowdown in the pace of
Turkish reforms might derail the talks.

“It’s important to continue on the path that has been chosen.
Reforms, especially in terms of basic freedoms and human and minority
rights, need to be implemented and it needs to be made sure there’s
no going back on the reforms. For this, as Prime Minister (Recep
Tayyip) Erdogan has said, there needs to be a change in mentality.
This won’t be possible overnight,” Schroeder was quoted as saying.

“The negotiations will start on October 3. The conditions that Turkey
must fulfil are known. The negotiations will definitely be long and
difficult. The progress that Turkey makes in the reform process will
determine to a large extent the progress it makes in the
negotiations.”

At a December European Union summit, the bloc agreed to open
membership talks with Turkey. But it must sign a customs agreement
that would mean de facto recognition of the government of Cyprus – a
step it has been hesitant to take.

Schroeder said a recent call by Erdogan to establish political
relations with Armenia while jointly researching the killings of
Armenians during the First World War is “a step in the right
direction.”

Armenia has rejected the proposal.

Armenians accuse Turkey of genocide in the killing of up to 1.5
million Armenians as part of a 1915-23 campaign to force them out of
eastern Turkey. But Turkey denies the killings were genocide and says
the death count is inflated.
From: Baghdasarian