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ANKARA: Schroeder urges reforms in friendly talks

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  • ANKARA: Schroeder urges reforms in friendly talks

    Schroeder urges reforms in friendly talks

    Thursday, May 5, 2005

    DIPLOMACY

    ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

    German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, a staunch supporter of Turkey's
    bid to join the European Union, told Turkish Prime Minister Recep
    Tayyip Erdogan to press forward with reforms needed to open accession
    talks on Oct. 3, particularly pointing out deficiencies in religious
    freedoms for non-Muslims and the necessity to sign a protocol extending
    Ankara's customs union deal with the EU to Greek Cyprus.

    But in an effort to ease Turkish frustration with rising European
    skepticism over Ankara's membership bid, he reiteratedthat the talks
    would open on Oct. 3 as scheduled and warned that the historic EU
    commitment to open the way for Turkish membership should not be harmed
    by "changing public opinion" in Europe.

    "One cannot make such an important, strategic decision of such immense
    historical meaning dependent on changing opinion polls," Schroeder
    said after talks with Erdogan.

    In a move underlining the importance he attaches to the situation of
    non-Muslim minorities in Turkey, Schroeder visited Greek Orthodox
    Patriarch Bartolomeos in Istanbul and said religious freedom was a
    "European principle." But he fell short of calling for the re-opening
    of a Greek Orthodox seminary on Heybeli Island near Istanbul.

    The German chancellor said the Turkish Cypriots were beingunfairly
    treated after they voted for a U.N. plan to reunite the island and
    emphasized that efforts to end their isolation must not be blocked.

    Schroeder also voiced support for Erdogan's proposal for a joint
    study of Armenian allegations of genocide at the hands of the late
    Ottoman Empire, saying such offers were always beneficial.
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