PARIS - President Jacques Chirac of France said on Tuesday during his meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey's integration with the European Union (EU) was ''desirable as soon as it was possible''.
French Presidential Office sources told the A.A correspondent that President Chirac and Prime Minister Erdogan held a 45-minute tete-a-tete meeting in which Turkey-the EU relations and the bilateral relations between Turkey and France were discussed.
Sources noted that issues such as Iran, Iraq, the Middle East, terrorism, cultural relations between Turkey and France, and problems of Turkish community in France were discussed at the luncheon.
Quoting President Chirac as saying that Turkey had made considerable progress in its EU membership process, sources noted that President Chirac underlined importance of putting the reforms into practice.
President Chirac said that France did not change its position about Turkey-the EU relations, and has still been waiting for the EU Commission's report.
President Chirac drew attention to some deficiencies in Turkey about freedom of expression.
Sources said that President Chirac and Prime Minister Erdogan corroborated their idea of supporting the road map in efforts to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
Noting that negotiations on purchase of Airbus by Turkey were also taken up during the meetings, sources said that negotiations reached the final level.
(UK-AÖ) 20.07.2004