Belgian Government Beside Turkey

BRUSSELS – Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour Laurette Onkelinx said on Wednesday that the Belgian government would support Turkey in Copenhagen and exert efforts for a compromise on a better approach than the joint proposal of France and Germany.

Onkelinx told A.A correspondent that nobody should be afraid of Turkey’s European Union (EU) membership and that Turkey would have an extraordinary contribution to European culture.

Turkey had an innumerable cultural trump, Onkelinx said.

Onkelinx drew the attention that there was not a consensus in the EU and said that France and Germany proposed to evaluate the situation in 2004 and begin negotiations in 2005.