High German Interest in Turkish Reforms

"One of the most important issues is harmonization. We believe our joint efforts will absolutely contribute to this process. We’ll be pleased to visit Turkey in the next spring to go through our contacts," said Roth. In her closure, Roth drew attention to the challenges Turkey has been dealing with in terms of democracy, human rights and economy and added that the recent reforms were most welcome.

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission for the Turkish-German parliament members Ahmet Yasar, in turn, referred to the 2.5 million Turks living in Germany and Germans residing in Turkey by labelling them as crucial elements for the promotion of both countries’ friendly relations. "The Turks in Germany know about Germany, yet some joint steps have to be taken to make the Germans become familiar with Turkey," said the Turkish Chairman. While elaborating on the issue of the EU reforms Turkish Parliament has been taking up, Sakarya MP Saban Disli pointed out the reforms’ main target was to promote the lifestyle of the Turkish people. The Turkish MP went on to highlight the fact that 85 percent of Turks were willing to enter the EU and thus, Turkey would keep on implementing them in 2004 as well. Reha Denemec, a MP from Ankara, in turn, stated even though Turkey was economically weak, she has the potential to attract many foreign investors into business in Turkey provided that appropriate opportunities were assured. Finally, Prime Minister Erdogan’s top adviser Cuneyd Zapsu, referring to the condition of human rights in Turkey, said certain things couldn’t be changed in just one day, yet the pioneering steps had been taken.