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  • Turkey pressed to continue reform

    icWales, UK
    May 2 2005

    Turkey pressed to continue reform

    icWales


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

    Schroeder, who has long backed Turkey's bid to join the bloc, was
    speaking ahead of his trip to Turkey, which begins on 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 overnight," Schroeder was quoted as saying.

    "The negotiations will start on October 3. The conditions that Turkey
    must fulfil 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 the First World War is "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 the killings were genocide and says
    the death count is inflated.
    From: Baghdasarian
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