ANKARA - Austrian Ambassador to Turkey Marius Calligaris said on Wednesday that Turkey's Muslim population was not an obstacle for its EU membership bid, adding he thought there was an unnecessary fear in Turkey in that regard.
Calligaris met with Turkish-Austrian Interparliamentary Friendship Group prior to the visit of Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc to Austria.
Responding to questions of the members of the Friendship Group about difficulties regarding visa procedures, EU, and economic and cultural cooperation issues between the two countries, Calligaris expressed pleasure over the reforms undertaken by the Turkish parliament in a short time. Austria supported those reforms, said Calligaris, adding that his government regarded them as a positive development not only for EU, but also for the Turkish people.
Calligaris stated that there were very few parliaments which adopted such important reforms in such a short time, adding that an important process started regarding the implementation of those reforms. Calligaris stated that Turkey was very important for the EU, adding that the EU would show the same patience to all candidate countries.
Calligaris noted that he thought that EU would give a negotiation date to Turkey at the end of the year. He also denied news claiming that Austria was the EU country which had the most negative attitude towards EU membership of Turkey.
Regarding the visa issue, Calligaris said visa was applied to Austrian citizens while coming to Turkey, but citizens of six EU countries didn't need any visa. Calligaris asked for help in that regard.
(Öª-AÖ) 07.01.2004