ISTANBUL - Eneko Landaburu, the head of Enlargement Directorate General of the European Commission, met on Friday with members of Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) in Istanbul.
The meeting which was closed to press lasted nearly two hours at Ciragan Palace.
Replying questions of reporters after the meeting, Landaburu said that the meeting was positive and the steps Turkey took regarding membership to the European Union (EU) was positive.
TUSIAD Foreign Affairs Commission Chairman Cem Duna said that Landaburu gave very positive messages and added that the messages taken in this period were opening new horizons before Turkey.
Duna said that Landaburu gave rather positive messages to TUSIAD so they had a very optimistic atmosphere.
When asked, ''Is the message given in this period really sincere? Did you receive such an impression?'' Duna said that the messages were sincere and added that they had to fulfill the requirements of timetable in a very short time.
Duna said that they had to give up being a country which was living with its problems and they should show a will of solving problems.
Responding to a question whether or not a sine qua non condition was put forward, Duna said, ''no. Those are what we called Copenhagen criteria. The whole of the principles implemented for every country and also for Turkey.''
Duna said, ''Turkey should fulfill whole of them. Turkey can not act as if it fulfills. It should fulfill by believing in it. It should fulfill this to protect its own future. All the packages which passed were issues that had to be fulfilled to have a better future for Turkey.''
When asked whether or not Landaburu made a statement regarded with the news reports that the EU officials felt uneasy over inclusion of particularly National Security Council (NSC) in Turkish policy, Duna said attitude of the EU was open in this respect, and that they wanted civilian authority to be strengthened directly.
Duna said all the problem was about implementation, noting that, ''Turkey should show strength of civilian authority in the coming period.''
(GC-AY-AÖ) 13.06.2003