Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
May 5 2005
Schroeder: On the open seas and in parliaments your luck lies with
Allah
Ahmet KULAHCI – Ugur ERGAN- Hasan TUFEKCİ/ANKARA:
>>From Turkey’s possible EU membership to the Armenian accusations of
genocide, the leaders of Turkey and Germany put everything on the
table during the visit of the Germany premier to Turkey. German Prime
Minister Gerhard Schroeder comforted Ankara with his words about the
upcoming referendum on the European Constitution in France, which
could affect Turkey’s shot at EU membership.
Yesterday, after the delegations of the two countries met together,
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and PM Schroeder held a
joint press conference. A quick overview of some of Schroeder’s views
on a host of different subject at the press conference follows:
It’s the EU’s turn
“Turkey must first sign the protocol which takes the Greek side of
Cyprus into account. The EU must support the planned October 3 start
to discussions….changes in the Turkish Constitution are important.
But the implementation of these changes is even more important. Of
course everything cannot happen in one day.”
A long process
“Despite all the difficulties, Turkey must not detour from the series
of reforms on the way to the EU….Solving the Cyprus issue is the
shared goal of the EU…Aid to Turkish Cypriots from the EU must not
be blocked. There must be serious effort to lift blockades from this
aid getting through.”
Open the borders
“I support PM Erdogan’s suggestion of a joint-commission with
Armenia….The attitude of both these countries is important….The
border between Armenia and Turkey must be opened.”
Armenian protests
Regarding the introduction of bills in European parliaments calling
for the recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide, PM Schroeder
had a word of advice for PM Erdogan: “There is a saying we have in
German: ‘On the open seas and in parliaments, your luck lies with
Allah.'”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress