ERDOGAN SAYS EP DECISION WON’T HARM TURKEY’S EU PROCESS

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Sept 29 2005

Ankara never claimed its declaration on not recognising the Greek
Cypriot Administration was a legal document, the Prime Minister said.

Guncelleme: 04:19 ET 29 Eylul 2005 PerºembeABU DHABI – The decision
of the European Parliament to defer the ratification of Turkey’s
extended customs union with the European Union would not have any
impact of the opening of accession negotiations next week.

Responding to the European Parliament’s decision Wednesday to delay
a vote on the amended customs union protocol due to Turkey’s refusal
to recognise the Greek Cypriot state, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said the parliament’s decisions were not binding. “The decision
would not have an impact on our EU process,” he said during a visit
to Saudi Arabia.

Erdogan said that the European Parliament’s vote calling for Turkey’s
recognition of the alleged genocide by the Ottoman Empire against
its Armenian citizens during the First World War was also not binding.

The Turkish Prime Minister said that the EU risked being labelled
a Christian club if it blocked Turkey’s accession. What will the
EU achieve by admitting Turkey? It will become a bridge between the
1.5-billion strong Muslim world and the EU. It will start an alliance
of civilisations,” he said.

Erdogan also slammed a report in the US paper The Washington Times
claiming that he condemned European values and freedoms and was
turning Turkey into a Islamic-fascist state. Erdogan said that no
one could pass such a sentence on a prime minister.

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