ANKARA - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Tuesday that the revised National Program was a sort of road map in Turkey's European Union (EU) accession process.
Gul, who received Murat Sungar, the Secretary General for the EU, recalled that the main principles of the revised National Program were the issues announced in the National Program of 2000.
''New conditions and developments are out of question. We have put forth the progress we have recorded in our commitments. We want the Secretariat General for the EU to list initiatives that we have to fulfil within this year to meet the political criteria and to have a good progress report in 2003,'' Gul said.
Noting that comprehensive work continued regarding that issue, Gul said that they would list the initiatives to be launched within that framework in the seventh package.
''All these initiatives are renewal of Turkey,'' Gul said.
Gul recalled that some laws in Turkey did not abide by the current conditions and said, ''everything has to be renewed. We have to renew Turkey whether or not EU membership is in question. Thus, it may be possible to start negotiations at the end of 2004.''
Asked if the National Program would be debated in the Council of Ministers meeting on Wednesday, Gul said that it would not be discussed and Wednesday's cabinet meeting was expected to last short.
Gul stated that the National Program would firstly be evaluated in the Foreign Ministry and then be distributed to the ministers.
Asked if the National Program would come onto the agenda of the National Security Council (NSC), Gul said that it would not be like a presentation but it would come onto the agenda.
Answering another question, Gul recalled that they considered the sixth adjustment package as adopted and added that the EU Foreign Ministers agreed on inviting Turkey to the European Conference.
Sungar, in his part, said that the National Program was a product of six months of work and that it was completed as a result of consultations with all public institutions and non-governmental organizations.
''It was not an easy work,'' Sungar said.
Stating that they committed to make amendments to 53 laws and pass 87 new laws in the National Program, Sungar noted that there were also 380 new legal arrangements and the number of legal arrangements to be changed would be 82.
Sungar pointed out that the program would be presented to the EU at the beginning of July after its translation was completed.
Sources said that issues regarding Cyprus took place in the introduction of the draft National Program.
In the political criteria chapter comprised of five pages, Turkey is committed to fulfil all short term criteria till the end of 2004.
The sources noted that general expressions took place in the National Program regarding some issues and within that framework, there was only one sentence regarding NSC. These expressions will become definite after the decision of the Council of Ministers.
The Secretariat General for the EU expressed its view to the Ministry that necessary legal arrangements including the seventh adjustment package and together with the National Program should be completed within that year and the year 2004 should be a year of implementations.
(BRC) 17.06.2003