Schroeder warns Turkey must not go back on reforms

AP Worldstream
May 02, 2005

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has assured Turkey that membership
negotiations with the European Union will start as scheduled on
Oct. 3, but has warned it must not go back on reforms, according to
an interview published in a Turkish newspaper on Monday.

Schroeder, who has long backed Turkey’s bid to join the bloc, was
speaking ahead of his trip to Turkey, which begins Tuesday.

There have been concerns that a recent slowdown in the pace of Turkish
reforms might derail the talks.

“It’s important to continue on the path that has been chosen.
Reforms, especially in terms of basic freedoms and human and minority
rights, need to be implemented and it needs to be made sure there’s
no going back on the reforms. For this, as Prime Minister (Recep
Tayyip) Erdogan has said, there needs to be a change in mentality.
This won’t be possible over night,” Schroeder was quoted as saying.

“The negotiations will start on Oct. 3. The conditions that Turkey
must fulfill are known. The negotiations will definitely be long and
difficult. The progress that Turkey makes in the reform process will
determine to a large extent the progress it makes in the negotiations.”

At a December European Union summit, the bloc agreed to open membership
talks with Turkey. But it must sign a customs agreement that would
mean de facto recognition of the government of Cyprus _ a step it
has been hesitant to take.

Schroeder said a recent call by Erdogan to establish political
relations with Armenia while jointly researching the killings of
Armenians during World War I “a step in the right direction.” Armenia
has rejected the proposal.

Armenians accuse Turkey of genocide in the killing of up to 1.5 million
Armenians as part of a 1915-23 campaign to force them out of eastern
Turkey. But Turkey denies that the killings were genocide and says
the death count is inflated.