TURKISH SPEAKER SAYS EU SHOULD BE HONEST, OBJECTIVE ABOUT EU ACCESSION

Anatolia news agency
1 Oct 2005

Ankara, 1 October: Turkish parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said on
Saturday [1 October] that Turkey had its most critical days regarding
its EU bid, adding “Europe is being tested for honesty, equity and
objectivity. We see and denounce those who try to impede Turkey’s
membership to the EU by taking some political manoeuvres.”

The new parliamentary term started the same day and the parliamentary
general assembly convened under the leadership of Arinc.

Addressing the parliament, Arinc said that Turkey would not cope with
terrorism by restricting freedoms. “This parliament should give the
best response to terrorism by staying in solidarity,” Arinc said.

Referring to Turkey’s EU bid, Arinc said that the Turkish people had
difficulty in understanding the hypocrisy shown by EU towards Turkey.

Arinc stressed that Turkey was a big state and it had the power to
change some balances, adding that Europe was on the eve of taking an
important decision.

“Europe will either accept our membership, adapt itself to the change
in the world and get stronger or will impede our membership by looking
inwards and loose its impact on world politics. Turkey’s membership
means the integration of the East and the West, and the meeting of
civilizations,” Arinc said.

Denouncing the attempt to bring claims like Armenian genocide onto
the agenda prior to 3 October, Arinc said that the Turkish parliament
would not accept a crime which its ancestors didn’t commit just to
be a member of the European Union.