Turkey only wants equal treatment: Erdogan

It would be unfair for some EU member states to hold a referendum on whether to admit Turkey to the EU when such conditions did not apply to other candidates, Erdogan said during a visit to Paris.
“No referendum has been organised to approve the membership of a candidate country during preceding enlargements,” Erdogan said in an interview with the newspaper Le Parisien.
“Imposing it on Turkey would be in contradiction with the process that has gone before.”
The criteria for gaining membership of the EU had been clearly set out and Turkey was working to fulfil those requirements, he said. To hold a referendum on Turkey’s bid, such as the one proposed by French President Jacques Chirac, would be contrary to the principles of the union, said Erdogan.
Turkey had made great progress in meeting the accession criteria, the Prime Minister said.
“In the areas of democracy and human rights Turkey is even ahead of some members of the union,” he said. “The recent report by the European Commission declares very clearly that Turkey has fulfilled all its obligations.”