Zaman, Turkey
March 3 2005
‘Fatigue’ Sets in between EU Representative and Turkish Foreign
Ministry
By Suleyman Kurt
The debate over a slow down in Turkey’s reform process since December
17th continues between the Turkish Foreign Ministry and European
Union (EU) Commission Ankara Ambassador Hans Jorg Krestchmer.
Spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry Namik Tan noted the
claims that Turkey’s reform process has slowed down do not reflect
the reality and said that Turkey has fulfilled all of its
responsibilities. Tan reminded that the EU also has responsibilities
and called on them to “take action”. Kretschmer, meanwhile, says, “We
keep our idea that Turkey has slowed down its political reforms since
the EU Summit. Moreover, there is a reversal in some areas.” He
showed court cases opened against writers and publishers as examples
of Turkey’s regression. Kretschmer emphasized the fact that there has
been no political reaction to death threats to author Orhan Pamuk
following his statements about Armenians and Kurds.