Turkey wants EU Constitution to be Secular

Istanbul, TURKEY, November 30, 2003 – “If the European Union (EU) constitution is not going to be secular, let it give a place to Islam,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Gul.

He stated that in case Christianity is mentioned in the EU constitution, then Judaism and Islam also must be mentioned.

Gul was in Naples Italy for the EU Intergovernmental Conference. During a press conference, Gul pointed out that the conference in Naples was one of the last meetings arranged while Italy held the EU term presidency and that it would be the last meeting before the December summit.