STRASBOURG - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Turks in France to get more organized and integrate into the society in which they live to help to the improvement of bilateral relations between the two countries.
In an interview with the French Le Figaro daily, PM Erdogan said, ''the EU perceives Turkey in a different way since it comes from a different civilization and has a population of 70 million. However, this approach has begun losing its prevalence recently.''
When asked whether Turkey's rejection to open its ports and airports to the Greek Cypriot vessels and aircraft would lead to the suspension of entry negotiations, Erdogan said, ''I do not want to think about suspension of talks due to such an irrelevant issue. It is totally contrary to EU principles.''
Referring to the embargo imposed on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), PM Erdogan said, ''although Turkish Cypriots accepted the Annan plan in 2004's referendum, they were punished, while the Greek Cypriots, who rejected the plan, were awarded. Is this fair?''
Replying to a question about Turkish-French relations, PM Erdogan said, ''France is one of the most important trade partners of Turkey. I believe that the negative impression of French people towards Turkey stem from lack of communication. Therefore, I call on Turkish people living in France to be more organized and integrated (into the society) for improvement of bilateral relations between the two countries.''
Upon a question about the so-called Armenian genocide, Erdogan indicated, ''we believe that historians should deal with the issue. We have opened all our archives to researchers. I sent a letter (in this regard) to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, but he did not responded.''