ISTANBUL - Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the co-chairman of the Group of the Greens at the European Parliament (EP), said Monday Turkey has to win the hearts of European nations for EU membership.
"The first step of this is to have a full democracy in Turkey," Cohn-Bendit told during a dinner at the Turkish Businessmen's & Industrialists' Confederation (TUSKON) HQ in Istanbul.
"The Greens are supporting Turkey's EU membership bid. Democracy is not only freedom for business life but also it means individuals should also be free," he said.
Cohn-Bendit said freedoms are not implemented one-sidedly in a free country, and they should fight for rights of all people, when commenting on the headscarf issue.
-FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM-
On the other hand, Cohn-Bendit said Turkey has the right to fight against the terrorist organization PKK.
"However, it is a crazy and wrong move for Turkish army to enter north of Iraq," he also said.
Cohn-Bendit said what is important for them and Turkey is to separate the PKK from Kurdish people and claimed that a cross-border operation into north of Iraq would bring together the terrorist organization PKK and the Kurdish people.
Daniel Cohn-Bendit qualified the closure case of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) as wrong and said they want to see Kurds to be represented in the parliament, not to be represented militarily.
"They will be separated from the PKK if you give some time. Give democracy a chance and take risks," he said.