Schröder Seeks Turkish ‘Mentality Change’

Deutsche Welle, Germany
May 3 2005

Before a planned visit to Turkey this week, German Chancellor Gerhard
Schröder said the country needed a “change in mentality” to make
reform efforts stick ahead of EU accession talks in October.

“The reforms must be further implemented, and we should be assured of
their irreversibility,” Schröder told the Turkish daily Milliyet, just
before his two-day trip to Bosnia and Turkey, which begins on Tuesday.

The German leader was referring especially to reforms affecting
fundamental freedoms, as well as minority and human rights. But he
left no doubts that EU accession negotiations for Turkey would start
on October 3 as planned.

The EU accession talks will be the main focus of meetings, planned
four months ago during an EU summit in Brussels, with Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Ahmet Sezer.

‘Impressive policies’

In the past weeks, Prime Minister Erdogan has been accused of letting
his country’s reform efforts slip.

However, Schröder praised the “impressive reform policies” of the
Turkish government. He noted that Erdogan himself has implied that a
“change in mentality” is necessary before the policies can be put
into effect.

“Such a change in mentality won’t take place overnight. But it is
necessary in order for reforms and changes in the law to become
everyday, widely accepted practices,” Schröder told the newspaper.

‘Difficult’ negotiations ahead

The progress of the reform process will make a decisive difference
in determining how the developments of the EU talks, Schröder told
the paper. “The negotiations themselves will certainly be long and
also difficult.”

The chancellor noted that Turkey needs to enlarge its EU tariff
agreements with the new member states by October 3 — which will mean
a de facto recognition of Cyprus by Ankara.

“A speedy solution to the Cyprus problem would of course make the
accession talks much easier,» Schröder said.

Schröder agreed with Turkey’s suggestion of forming a history
commission to handle discussions of the massacre of Armenians 90
years ago, in what was then known as the Ottoman Empire.

EU seeks ‘genocide’ admission

In their expulsion from the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923,
some 1.5 million Armenians died from violence or starvation and
disease. To date, Ankara has refused to call it genocide, although
the European Parliament has demanded an admission that Turkey own up
to the mass killings.

Prior to his visits to Ankara and Istanbul, Schröder will visit
Bosnia-Herzegovina. In Sarajevo he’ll meet with Prime Minister Adnan
Terzic, and will visit the EUFOR field camp in Rajlovac, just outside
of the capital. The German army has had a presence in Bosnia since
the signing of the peace accord 10 years ago. DW Staff (jen)

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