BERLIN - Yasar Yakis, former Foreign Minister and head of Parliamentary Commission for Adjustment Into European Union (EU), has said that Germany and France played the role of engine in Europe, adding, ''France has not opened its cards about Turkey's EU membership yet. If you have any dispute with France over it, the German government should persuade France about it.''
Claudia Roth, the chairwoman of the German government's human rights board and the Turkish-German Parliamentary Friendship Group, had a meeting in Berlin with Parliamentary Commission for Adjustment Into EU members headed by Yakis.
Speaking at the meeting, Yakis said that they wanted to cooperate with the German government in removing negativity on Turkey's EU path.
''Also the other candidate countries have deficiencies. So we want positive treatment of Turkey. Our government will continue exerting every effort for implementation of reforms,'' he said.
Noting that Turkey would not join the EU soon, Yakis said, ''Turkey is a country which has proven that it can make reforms in a short period of time. It can fulfill all criteria after opening of membership negotiations until the date of its accession. Help us explain it to other countries. Turkey may suffer damage if a decision on opening of membership negotiations is not made.''
Meanwhile, Yakis stressed that they could not intervene in the jurisdiction regarding the case of Leyla Zana, adding that the Turkish government had exerted every possible effort and it had started to translate decisions by the European Court of Human Rights into Turkish language for Turkish judges.
(MS-AÖ) 09.03.2004