EU-TURKEY: EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER DISAGREES WITH CHIRAC

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.10.2006 18:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ EU Aid and Development Commissioner Louis Michel
responded to French President Jacques Chirac, who said during a visit
to Armenia that Turkey should recognize the Armenian Genocide to
become a European Union member. Belgian Commissioner Michel stated on
Sunday that the EU could not produce new political criteria regarding
Turkey’s EU membership.

Commissioner Michel stressed that "some people are trying to change
the rules after the game has begun."

"We have to understand the importance of Turkey," he stressed. Michel
added that Turkey was important for the bloc and it played a key role
in the region, citing that one must merely look at the crossroads of
energy pipelines to see how important Turkey was.

"Turkey needs the EU, but the EU needs Turkey more," Michel
highlighted, the Zaman Turkish newspaper writes.

When asked whether Turkey should recognize the Armenian Genocide
to join the European Union, Chirac said: "Honestly, I believe it
should. Each country grows by acknowledging its dramas and mistakes
of the past" during a visit to the Armenian capital Yerevan.