"I hope Turkey to get date for accession talks with EU"

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul has said, "we believe that we will get a date for opening of accession talks with the European Union (EU) since we are determined to fulfill the political criteria."

Speaking at a meeting of the Business Life Solidarity Association (ISHAD) in Istanbul late on Thursday, Gul said, "many things have changed, structural reforms have been made and a serious improvement has been achieved in economy since the general elections on November 3, 2002. Our government prepared a very serious program after coming to political power and benefited from advantages of single-party government. As a result, Turkey has lived through a rapid development in the last 15 months."

Stressing that the most important thing was Turkey’s regaining its self-confidence as a result of all efforts of the government, Gul said, "any government can do nothing in its foreign policy before securing confidence of people. Therefore, we have made significant reforms in our economy."

"Our first target was to get rid of high inflation rates. As a result of our efforts, inflation rates have begun dropping considerably. Besides economic development, we should fulfil democratization process, make our democracy transparent and provide equality. Democracy should not be considered only liberalization of political organizations. Many things, which could not be done in the past, are possible today. It has provided unity and solidarity in Turkey," he stressed.

Recalling that positive development had occurred in Turkey’s foreign policy, Gul said, "we have further consolidated our relations with neighboring countries. In the past, mutual enmities were high on agenda in our relations with Greece. Today, political parties in Greece used advantages of friendly relations with Turkey in their election campaign. You will see that political relations will be further improved this year."

"As you know, Iraq experienced a war last year. However, Turkey was not affected from the war. Also, our relations with the allied United States have also been improved," he said.

Gul said, "the most important event of this year is the EU membership. Turkey has been exerting great efforts to start accession talks with the EU. Our government has made a series of constitutional changes, adopted many laws and made a significant progress in putting them into practice. All these developments amazed the whole world and Europe. While working for the democratization process, our government has given priority to granting our people some rights before EU membership."

"We believe that we will get a date for opening of accession talks with the EU at the end of this year since we are determined to fulfill the political criteria. There are still some constitutional changes to be made following the local elections on March 28. Later, we will concentrate on putting them into practice. Turkey, will, of course, become a much more different country after starting accession talks with the EU. We also believe that opening of accession talks with the EU will encourage foreign investors to invest in Turkey," he said.

Gul added, "there are still something to be done. For instance, there are still military members in some boards. Presence of military members in such boards is out of question in European countries. We will change it."