ANKARA - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Friday that they were not uneasy with speculations regarding the new reform package and they were pleased with the discussion about new reform packages.
Gul made the opening speech of a human rights seminar held in U.N. Representation in Ankara.
Noting that the arrangements made on human rights and democratization of Turkey were not only regarded with integration process with the European Union (EU) and Turkey had to complete its progress in that issue a long time ago, Gul said that they were aware of the delay.
Gul said that Copenhagen political criteria and human rights and democratization were in parallel with each other on many points and added that the government was in effort to start negotiations with EU by completely fulfilling those criteria.
Noting that they were not uneasy about the speculations over new reform package, Gul said that transparency and discussion in every issue was necessary in democratic societies, so they requested holding a general debate on EU issue at Parliament.
Gul said that they were determined to adopt packages and added that every country had its own conditions, but those conditions could not be out of international standards. He said that different arrangements could be made in every countries within those standards.
Abdullah Gul said that reform packages would continue and new packages after the sixth package could come onto agenda.
Gul stated that he attended this meeting to stress the importance which the government attributed to human rights and democratization.
''Even if there have been improvements in human rights field in Turkey recently, we are aware that we have shortcomings,'' said Gul, noting that Turkish society had tolerance, respect towards different opinions and human beings in its history. ''Unfortunately we could not modernize them,'' Gul said. Noting that non-governmental organizations played an important role in pluralist democracies, Gul said that yet NGOs should not get political. Gul said that the government announced from the beginning that it wanted to work with NGOs.
Gul said that adoption of reform packages by the parliament was not enough, adding that practice became more important than adoption of laws in recent years. Gul said if the laws adopted were not implemented this would give harm to the prestige of Turkey.
(GC-ÖS) 30.05.2003