Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

ANKARA: Turkish premier views Armenian claims, EU membership

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • ANKARA: Turkish premier views Armenian claims, EU membership

    Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
    Sept 30 2007


    Turkish premier views Armenian claims, EU membership


    New York, 30 September: "Turkey will not be remembered as the country
    of military interventions from now on. Turkey has made its
    preference, and it is democracy," Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan
    said on Saturday [29 September].

    "If we can see our differences as a richness, and if we can perceive
    well and settle our principles such as democracy, secularism, and
    social state of law, many issues can be solved," he told
    representatives of Turkish community and Turkish citizens at the
    Mariott Marquies Hotel in New York.

    Erdogan noted, "we will go on our path to raise living standards of
    our country, and to bring Turkey to the level of contemporary
    civilizations as a democratic, secular, social state of law."

    1915 Incidents

    Stating that more than 1 million documents in Turkish archives have
    been classified so far, Erdogan said that Turkey wants Armenia and
    other countries to open their archives.

    These documents should be examined, and a report should be prepared,
    he pointed out.

    "As politician, we can make a decision afterwards. If Turkey has some
    mistakes, we can come to terms with our history. But are you ready to
    do so? We are standing firm regarding this matter, and we will
    continue to do so," he added.

    EU membership

    On the other hand, Erdogan said, "our government is determined about
    EU membership. We have no hesitations. We have a president, a prime
    minister, a foreign minister and a government who believe in EU
    process. Therefore we are dealing with this issue altogether, and
    continue to do so."

    Erdogan pointed out that EU process is not an easy one, and said, "of
    course, there will be some obstacles, but we maintain our efforts
    despite those obstacles."

    Turks In USA

    Noting that US citizenship of Turks living in this country will have
    positive contributions to Turkish-US relations, Erdogan said, "why
    doesn't a Turk become a member of the US Congress? I always think
    that and long for that."

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Working...
X