The New Anatolian, Turkey
June 30 2005
Turkey to the EU: ‘We will continue our way’
* Gul sends positive signals to EU on the eve of framework document
release: We have no hesitation.
Sanaa, Yemen – Turkish FM says Turkey will normalize its relations
with neighboring countries, including Armenia, by its own initiative.
‘We don’t need to hear such things from the EU,’ says Gul. ‘These are
issues that we’re already working on. Words from abroad on these
issues shouldn’t be seen as impositions or conditions’
Even surrounded by dozens of diplomats from a host of Islamic
countries, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul still could not
forget the issues of Ankara’s European Union membership bid.
Despite being at the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
summitin Yemen, reporters’ questions towards Gul yesterday mostly
concerned the path of Turkish-EU relations. And in answering these
questions, Gul sent positive messages to the EU on the eve of the
declaration of the framework document, the “road map” for Turkey’s
accession negotiations scheduled to begin on Oct. 3.
“We have no hesitation. We will continue our way,” said Gul, batting
to one side a question on whether the normalization of relations with
Armenia would be included on the document.
But the Turkish foreign minister did underline that Turkey would
normalize its relations with neighboring countries, including
Armenia, by its own initiative. “We don’t need to hear such things
from the EU,” said Gul. “These are issues that we’re already working
on. The words coming from abroad on these issues should not be
understood as impositions or conditions.”
He claimed that Turkey had satisfied the conditions for the start of
the negotiations by fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria. The period
for fulfilling “the Copenhagen criteria has ended,” he said. “This
was a condition for the negotiations, but it was finished by the
decision to start our accession talks.”
Conceding that there were still some deficiencies in the
implementation of the criteria, Gul said that Turkey would implement
them “for the sake of the Turkish people.”
Gul also said that he had had a chat with Iranian Foreign Minister
Kamal Kharrazi in the wake of the weekend landmark Iranian elections.
“It is obvious that a new period will begin in Iran after the
presidential elections,” Gul said. “We hope for the improvement of
our friendship, cooperation and brotherhood with Iran during this
period.”