EU’s Historical Step Pleases Turkey

Erdogan, holding a press meeting at the European Council yesterday in Strasbourg, added that he believes the Commission report will be approved in its current form at the December 17 EU summit.

"Since the report is affirmative, negotiations should officially start within the first few months of 2005," said Erdogan.

When reminded that Commission President Romano Prodi announced the report with a "conditional yes", the Prime Minister responded: "There is no such thing. I think there is a miscommunication."

"Today, we have reached the first target. We were given the first green light, and we completed the first lap in the flag race," indicated Erdogan. He also emphasized that Turkey does not want any special privileges during the membership process.

The Prime Minister then underlined the fact that by fulfilling some of the criteria, Turkey was already ahead of some current EU member countries. "We demand what is just for Turkey, nothing else."

Regarding the suspension of negotiations if deemed necessary, Erdogan said, "This could be disrespectful to a country that sped up the democratization process. If there is civil insurrection in a country then [the negotiations] should be suspended."

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul assessed the report for the press in Ankara. He said that the Commission took a historical step both in terms of Turkey and the EU.

Gul however expressed his disturbance at the fact that the report contains criteria and precautions for Turkey that fall outside of the Helsinki resolutions. Gul objected to the idea of "open-ended" negotiations. He said that "full membership" could be the only result of the talks.