PARIS - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, ``we want to fulfill the Copenhagen political criteria to increase living standards of our people.``
Holding a news conference at Paris` International Conference Center, Prime Minister Erdogan said, ``the Copenhagen political criteria are clear. Fulfillment of the Copenhagen political criteria is required for opening of accession talks with the European Union (EU). We have done all necessary constitutional and legal changes to this end. There are still some changes to be made in the Turkish Penal Code. It will be concluded in the new legislative year.``
Upon a question about the relations between Turkey and Israel, Prime Minister Erdogan said, ``there are some baseless allegations saying that there has been a crisis in the relations between Turkey and Israel. There is not any crisis in our relations. I criticized a mistake of Israel. This mistake was bombing of Rafah refugee camp. We cannot be positive against bombing of defenseless people while the whole world is talking about peace. It was not a kind of statement that would overshadow our friendly relations with Israeli people. However, some circles are trying to exploit it.``
When asked about the allegations on so-called Armenian genocide, Prime Minister Erdogan said, ``there is not any criterion about acknowledgement of the so-called Armenian genocide among political criteria of the EU membership. Actually, historians should deal with the issue. As politicians, we should concentrate on building the future.``
``We want to fulfill the Copenhagen political criteria to increase living standards of our people. If our target of the EU membership does not come true, we call it the Ankara criteria and continue progressing on our own path,`` he told reporters.
When asked, ``Turkey wants to be a member of the EU. However, it did not apply some decisions of the European Parliament such as acknowledgement of Armenian genocide, withdrawal of Turkish soldiers from Cyprus, and granting minorities some rights. How will Turkey assure the EU to apply decisions of the European Parliament in the future?`` Prime Minister Erdogan said, ``Turkey applies all decisions that are implementable. If they are not implementable, no one can expect Turkey to apply them. It is also valid for the other states. Those, who call us to withdraw from northern part of Cyprus, should have done the same call for the Greek Cypriot side. According to the EU laws, a country having border disputes cannot become a member of the Union. But the Greek Cypriot side was recognized as a member despite continuing border problems.``
(UK) 20.07.2004