ROME - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that the European Union (EU) countries should no more have hesitations in Turkey.
Following his dinner with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Erdogan told reporters that his meeting with Berlusconi was very fruitful and held in a sincere atmosphere.
Erdogan said that they debated future of EU-Turkey relations, Turkey's possible decision on dispatch of soldiers to Iraq, Middle East crisis, and Turkish-Italian economic relations during the dinner.
When he was recalled that Berlusconi stated that ''Turkey's EU membership process could be shortened thanks to the structural reforms that had been made,'' Erdogan said, ''whether Turkey's EU path will become shorter or longer depends on enforcement of reforms. EU member countries should no more have hesitations in Turkey. Whether or not the number of EU member countries will increase to 27 will probably become clear after December 2004. Since Turkey will be the only country outside the union, path of its EU accession process will be opened after Turkey is given a negotiation date.''
When a reporter said, ''Turkey had many disappointments about its relations with the EU in the past'' and asked, ''if it is also disappointed in December 2004, is there any B plan of Turkey,'' Erdogan said, ''there is not any B plan. We don't think about these issues at the moment.''
(BRC) 07.09.2003