No problems over meeting EU requirements: FM

Speaking ahead of the release of the EU’s report on Turkey’s progress in meeting accession requirements, due out on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül said that the government was determined to ensure the reforms were fully implemented and observed.
The draft of the EU’s latest Progress Report was an opportunity opening the door to Turkey’s membership bid, Gül told the parliamentary budgetary committee in its hearing on the Foreign Ministry’s 2004 budget allocation.
Turkey-EU relations had reached a turning point, Gül said, adding that Turkey made important progress in the past year.
The reforms enacted by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in its first year in office had not been put in place so as to improve Turkey’s chances of being granted full EU membership but had been legislated to benefit the Turkish people, the Foreign Minister said. However, he warned that it was not enough to merely enact legislation, the reforms had to be carried through.