ERDOGAN: "TURKEY IS DETERMINED FOR FULL EU MEMBERSHIP"

Turkish Press
Oct 5 2006

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday said that Turkey
was determined to become a European Union member and to fulfill
the bloc’s requirements. Erdogan received visiting EU Commissioner
for Enlargement Olli Rehn. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and chief
EU negotiator Ali Babacan also attended the meeting, where Cyprus
and the EU were discussed. Erdogan conveyed his uneasiness over the
so-called Armenian genocide claims being brought up by the EU.

Rebutting Rehn’s claim that Turkey had slowed down the reform process,
Erdogan summarized his government’s work on the EU over the last
four years. Rehn’s meeting at Parliament was tense. Meeting with
Parliament’s EU Harmonization Commission head Yasar Yakis, Rehn spoke
harshly about Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).