Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
July 5 2005

Rehn: EU needs Turkey

source: Hurriyet

EU Commissioner in charge of expansion, Olli Rehn, has said that a
Turkish membership in the EU is necessary for the contuining
development of “democracy, stability, and prosperity” in the
organization. Speaking yesterday evening at a meeting of European
Parliament Foreign Affairs members, Rehn talked about the framework
document that had been prepared for the upcoming October 3 EU
accession talks with Turkey.

Rehn stressed that Turkish membership which be a strategic advantage
for the EU, and that the October 3 talks must by all means go ahead.
Rehn also said that he could confirm that Turkey was fulfilling all
of the Copenhagen Criteria, and that there should not be any more
prerequisites put before Turkey prior to the start of the accession
talks.

EU-Turkey civil dialogue

Rehn spoke also about the importance of strengthening the level of
dialogue between EU and Turkish universities, workers’ unions, and
other civil society organizations.

French call on Turkey to recognize Armenian claims

During the discussions at the European Parliaments Foreign Affairs
Commission, some French parliamentarians spoke about the need for
Turkey to formally recognize Armenian claims of genocide prior to
accession talks.

Olli Rehn for his part said that the Armenian genocide was not
mentioned at all in the criteria