THESSALONIKI - Turkey was ready to start full membership negotiations with the European Union (EU), Turkish Parliamentary EU Adjustment Commission Chairman Yasar Yakis said on Tuesday.
Yakis, who joined the 10th Thessaloniki Forum Conference, told A.A that Turkey was beyond many former and new EU members both in economic and political sense. He added implementation of the laws, issued in Turkey, was important.
Yakis said violation of laws was in question in Turkey as it happened in all other EU member countries, however that the government in no way tolerated violation of laws.
Yakis said the Helsinki summit decision noting that Turkey would be treated equally with the other candidate countries and Copenhagen summit decision envisaging Turkey's starting of negotiations with the EU in 2004 in case it meets the criteria were parts of the EU acquisitions, yet that Turkey was not treated equally with the other candidate countries.
Yakis said Copenhagen criteria was a precondition for full membership, not for starting of negotiations.
Yakis said Turkey met the Copenhagen criteria, but that the EU would have difficulty in explaining this to the international community if full membership negotiations did not start despite everything that has been done so far.
Speaking about Turkish-Greek relations, Yakis said rapprochement policy initiated by the previous governments of the two countries continued by the current governments, and noted that both governments decided that bilateral relations should not be affected by Cyprus question.
Yakis, who also addressed the Forum, said international community should exert efforts to overcome the damages that stemmed from the wars in the Balkans, and stressed that there were still investment opportunities in the region, yet that entrepreneurs were hesitant to make investments in a region where there was not stability and peace.
Yakis said Turkey and Greece contributed providing of stability in the Balkans.
(AY-AÖ) 25.05.2004