Schroeder vows to include Turkish Cyprus in economic co-operation

Journal of Turkish Weekly
May 6 2005

Germany could extend its economic co-operation with Turkey to
include the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Gerhard Schroeder
said Wednesday.

Wrapping up a hectic day and a half visit to Turkey, Schroeder said
that including the TRNC in deals involving tourism and agriculture
was a just reward for Turkish Cypriots supporting reunification of
the two states on the island.

“WE HAVE TO BE FAIR”

“We have to be fair,” the Chancellor said. “Northern Cyprus took an
important decision for the unity of the island. This was not shared
in the south. Turkish-German co-operation should play an important
role in there.”

In a speech to a meeting of Turkish and German businessmen in Istanbul
Schroeder said that Europe had made a promise to Ankara 40 years ago
about its joining the European bloc and this should be not subject
to changes by sentimental mentalities or referendums. However,
the Chancellor also called on Turkey to maintain its momentum in
implementing reforms to bring it to the standards required by the EU
for membership.

GERMANY SUPPORTS TURKISH PROPOSAL

Regarding the Armenian allegations, Schroeder said that some European
parliaments took decisions without knowing all the facts and added
that he backed the Turkish proposal to set up a joint committee of
historians to study the issue.

JTW, NTV and news agencies