ISTANBUL - Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Saturday that, ``we hope that a broad discussion will take place about Turkey in December, and a decision will be taken to start full membership negotiations.``
Gul, who attended European Union (EU) summit and Intergovernmental Conference, returned to Turkey.
Speaking at Istanbul`s Ataturk Airport, Gul said an important issue taken up during the Conference was the adoption of EU Constitution.
Gul said there had been arguments and dispute about it for a long time, stating that a compromise could be reached on the issue in the end.
Mentioning the importance of reaching a compromise on the issue, Gul said, ``reaching a compromise on the issue is important for Turkey. As there will not be any need to take up the issue again in December. Thus, Turkey`s accession will be important in December. Compromise is a part of European culture. Europe has a new constitution now. This constitution does not include all the issues. It still requires alliance conditions on some issues.``
Gul said there had been positive developments in paragraphs about Turkey, and noted that, ``changes in Turkey take place rapidly, unfortunately they are not reflected sufficiently.``
``Paragraphs about Turkey are positive. Particularly, the paragraph about political criteria was issued in the way we wanted. Another important paragraph is the reiteration of decision which had been taken in Copenhagen Summit in December 2002 regarding determination of starting talks with Turkey by the end of 2004 without losing time.``
When a journalist asked about the statement of Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani to Qatar`s Al Cezire that a high ranking Turkish delegation visited them on June 9 and they conveyed by assuming a positive attitude that Turkey did not oppose granting Kurdistan a federal status under the structure of Iraq, Gul said, ``we always say that the Constitution should be made in a way to preserve Iraq`s unity.``
Gul said, ``as a neighboring country, we suggest them that the constitution should be in a way that would preserve Iraq`s political integrity and in a way that would not endanger Iraq`s territorial integrity. The federation should not be in a way to pave ways for divisions. Iraq`s territorial and political integrity is of utmost importance not only for Turkey but also for the whole region.``
Asked about the news reports that Croatia would start full membership negotiations with the EU in January 2005, Gul said the issue was misunderstood in Turkey.
Stating that Croatia, having four million population, was one of the cities of collapsed Yugoslavia, Gul said Croatia`s relations with the EU and Turkey`s relations with the EU could not be regarded as equal. He said Turkey`s starting of negotiations with the EU is an important incident in world history.
Gul said Turkey supported the process regarding Croatia, and stressed that, ``Turkey is a very big country. Relations of such a country with the EU is multidimensional.``
(AY) 20.06.2004