‘Cyprus is not a Membership Condition but ..

Stating that an unsolved Cyprus would make things harder for Turkey, Balkenende said: "I have been to Cyprus and saw the separation. We all believe that there should be a solution here. The solution is also important for Europe’s future." Saying that Turkey took very serious steps and showed determination, Balkenende added: "Cyprus is not a part of the Copenhagen Criteria, but postponing the issue to the second half of 2004 makes things harder."

Balkenende said the European Commission (EC) would make a new evaluation by the end of the year and a decision would be given accordingly. The Dutch Prime Minister added: "I know how important it is to present a membership perspective to Turkey. I hope everything will go fine with Turkey. This is very important both for Turkey and for Europe. The current AKP government is not only determined and willing to make necessary reforms but also knows that these reforms should really be carried out," said Balkanende and added: "You could make amendments to some of the laws, but of course, how the amendments are implemented is very important. Freedom of religion is applied. But we see that there are some problems with its practice as well. So, it is not enough to consider only legal amendment, at the same time you should care about what kind of things have changed in practice."