BAHCELI, LAGENDIJK DISCUSS THORNY POLITICAL ISSUES
Today’s Zaman
Nov 26 2008
Turkey
Joost Lagendijk, co-president of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary
Committee, has said he disagrees with Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)
leader Devlet Bahceli’s assessment of the EU’s annual progress report
on Turkey as not including positive developments.
Paying a visit to MHP headquarters yesterday, Lagendijk had a half-hour
meeting with Bahceli, who was accompanied by MHP parliamentary group
deputy chairman Oktay Vural and MHP Deputy Chairman Osman Cakır. They
discussed a wide range of issues regarding Turkey’s EU process, a
closure case filed against the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party
(DTP), the changing of the Constitution, Turkey’s headscarf problem
and Armenia.
During the meeting, Bahceli asked Lagendijk whether he found it
acceptable for the EU to not mention any positive developments
in Turkey in its annual progress report, which was released on
Nov. 5. Lagendijk, disagreed with Bahceli’s assessment, saying the
report also emphasized positive developments in Turkey, such as the
amendment of Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), under which
many journalists, writers and intellectuals had been prosecuted for
"insulting Turkishness," and Turkey’s attempts to reconcile with
Armenia, with which it has had no diplomatic relations since 1993.
In September, President Abdullah Gul accepted an invitation from
his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarksyan, to watch a soccer match
between the national teams of the two countries in Yerevan. The move
was widely hailed by the international community, which has been
encouraging the countries to normalize their relations.
In an implicit reference to Gul’s Yerevan visit, Bahceli said the
Armenian issue was too controversial and that it could not be resolved
by watching a soccer game, saying: "European leaders watch a lot of
soccer matches together, but they resolve serious issues around a
table. This issue cannot be solved by watching a match." He added,
"The normalization of relations with Armenia is very difficult,"
citing problems such as Yerevan’s refusal to recognize Turkey’s
borders and its occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh.
–Boundary_(ID_Sld4Sh6EbiHlSrBC qLiLpg)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
