Arinc: There Has Been A Full Alliance Among All Political Parties On The Issue Of E.U. Membership

ANKARA - Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said on Wednesday, ''I appreciate that there has been a full alliance among all political parties on the issue of the European Union (EU) membership.''
Arinc hosted a luncheon in honor of ambassadors of member and candidate countries to the EU.
Addressing journalists following the luncheon, Arinc said, ''ambassadors of all member and candidate countries to the EU partook in the luncheon. During the luncheon, I informed the ambassadors on parliamentary works. Ruling and opposition parties at the parliament have been cooperating on the issue of the EU membership. There is a sound political will at the parliament to this end. We are determined to become a full member of the EU as soon as possible by fulfilling Copenhagen criteria before December of 2004.''
''I also gave information about content of the sixth and seventh adjustment packages and constitutional amendment works. The ambassador of EU Term President Greece said at the luncheon that they were aware of Turkey's efforts and that they had been supporting Turkey's EU membership,'' he said.
Arinc told reporters, ''some ambassadors asked questions about parliament's role in relations with the EU, constitutional amendments, content of the sixth and following packages and parliament's role in Iraq and Middle East crises.''
Stressing that relations between Turkey and parliaments of the EU member countries would further strengthen in the coming days, Arinc said, ''I hope that Turkey will remove all obstacles in front of its EU membership and start accession talks with the EU as soon as possible.''
Responding a question about the sixth package, Arinc said that the package could be submitted to the parliament at the weekend and debated at the parliament in May.
Recalling that a commission was established at the parliament to deal with the issue of the EU membership, Arinc said, ''there is not any problem at the parliament about the EU membership. I appreciate that there has been a full alliance among all political parties on the issue of the EU membership.''
When asked whether ambassadors asked him the view of soldiers about the Sixth Adjustment Package, Arinc said, ''I, as Parliament Speaker, conveyed them what is being done at Parliament. They asked the meaning of the speech of NSC Secretary General Tuncer Kilinc and I told them what it means.''
(UK-GC-AÖ) 21.05.2003