STATE MINISTER ATALAY HOSTS DINNER IN HONOR OF EUROPEAN MPS OF TURKISH DESCENT
Turkish Press
Feb 26 2007
ANKARA – "Proposals to be made by European parliamentarians of
Turkish descent will make significant contributions to our new plans
for Turkey’s promotion," Turkish State Minister Besir Atalay said
on Saturday.
Atalay hosted a dinner in honor of 23 parliamentarians of Turkish
descent from the European Parliament, Germany, Austria, Belgium,
Denmark and Sweden.
Speaking at the dinner, Atalay said that they wanted to benefit from
proposals of the parliamentarians regarding Turkey’s EU membership
process and promotion efforts.
Meanwhile, Vural Oger, one of parliamentarians of the European
Parliament, said that their talks with Foreign Minister & Deputy
Prime Minister Abdullah Gul earlier in the day focused on a likely
amendment to the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.
On the other hand, Cem Ozdemir of the European Parliament said that
they welcomed Turkey’s proposal to Armenia to form a joint committee of
historians to deal with the allegations on so-called Armenian genocide.
The parliamentarians will proceed to Istanbul tomorrow to hold talks
with several columnists.