LONDON - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Turkish citizens living abroad should form their lobbies to help Turkey's target to be a full member of the European Union (EU).
Erdogan, currently officially in Britain, met with representatives of Turkish community living in London.
At the meeting, Erdogan briefed the representatives about Turkey's targets and the contributions that could be made for fulfillment of those targets.
Pointing out the importance of solidarity among the Turkish community living in London, Erdogan said Turkish citizens who had settled in Britain started to set up an important power in this country.
''You, who have come to this country in the past as workers, exhibited a pleasing development and turned into employers creating employment,'' Erdogan noted. Erdogan called on the Turkish citizens to exert further efforts for better education of the next generation.
Erdogan said integration with the society they are living in by preserving their own values was important and called on the Turkish citizens to work for a joint target.
Erdogan said Turkey had applied to the EU 40 years ago but did not do anything for long years, and noted that, ''several efforts were exerted 17 years ago but it did not continue. Serious steps were taken in the past 1.5 years.''
Pointing to the importance of legal and constitutional reforms fulfilled in EU membership process, Erdogan said studies accelerated for putting those reforms into practice.
Erdogan said, ''we will be in an effort to complete them quickly. Of course they can not be completed easily till December 2004. Anyway, those who became full member of the EU still try to overcome their deficiencies.''
(AY) 29.05.2004