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  • Delegation hails successful visit to Turkey

    Delegation hails successful visit to Turkey

    swissinfo, Switzerland
    Sept 3 2004

    A delegation of Swiss parliamentarians is winding up a visit to Turkey
    following meetings with the country's leaders and opposition figures.

    Peter Briner, the head of the group, told swissinfo that there was
    nothing now to prevent foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey from
    visiting Ankara.

    Calmy-Rey and the foreign affairs committee delegation had been due
    to make scheduled trips to Turkey last year, but these were called
    off at short notice.

    Turkey was angered when two Swiss cantonal parliaments officially
    recognised as genocide the 1915 killings of hundreds of thousands
    of Armenians in Turkey. The federal parliament followed suit last
    December.

    But Briner said that Turkey now had "no bad feelings" towards
    Switzerland.

    swissinfo: How successful has the visit been?

    Peter Briner: I think it has been a very successful trip. Our objective
    was to get acquainted with Turkey and to meet parliamentary colleagues
    of the foreign policy committee, because if we want to understand
    each other we first have to get to know each other.

    We met with open doors and an extraordinary hospitality from our
    Turkish friends.

    swissinfo: You met Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül. What subjects
    did you discuss with him?

    P.B.: We discussed mutual cooperation. There is a lot of cooperation
    in business, in culture and in technology. They [our Turkish partners]
    stressed their wish to strengthen our business relationship.

    On our side we had problems to be resolved too. It seems that Turkish
    customs discriminate against Swiss imports due to European Union
    certification, even though we have a free trade agreement with Turkey
    and with the EU. We are discussing this problem at various levels
    and I'm hopeful that it can be resolved.

    swissinfo: Did you raise the issue of human rights?

    P.B.: We did mention human rights. We also met a small delegation of
    opposition leaders led by [Kurdish human rights activist] Leyla Zana.

    She said she wants to see a stable Turkey living in peace, democracy
    and justice. She therefore welcomes the focus on reform due to
    [Turkey's application for] membership of the European Union.

    She is encouraged, but of course she would like to speed things up.
    She will fight with democratic means, we hope, because violence is
    no way to reach goals. We stressed the fact that democracy can be
    reached only through legal means.

    swissinfo: A year ago you wanted to go to Turkey and weren't able to.
    In the meantime relations between Bern and Ankara appear to have
    improved. How would you describe them now?

    P.B.: We have a very open, friendly relationship. We discussed the
    disagreements which made us postpone our trip. We explained things
    in Switzerland, and finally I think we did finish that discussion to
    the satisfaction of both sides.

    swissinfo: Do you think that your visit might pave the way for Swiss
    Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey to visit Turkey finally?

    P.B.: Yes, absolutely. Foreign Minister Gül said there were no
    obstacles whatsoever to a visit by Calmy-Rey, and that the chiefs of
    protocol would try to find a suitable date. There is no bad feeling
    left whatsoever.

    swissinfo-interview: Morven McLean
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