ANKARA - Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul met on Thursday European Union (EU) Commissioner for Trade Pascal Lamy.
After the meeting, Gul and Lamy held a joint press conference.
Gul said that they were sure that the Progress Report that would be made public by the European Commission in October, would reflect facts in the best manner.
Stating that Lamy and he also discussed technical issues regarding to customs union, Gul noted that although there were some problems, those could be overcome. He added that technical issues would be taken up in detail during Lamy's talks in the afternoon.
Recalling that Turkey is a part of EU customs union for ten years and it was the sole country which participated in customs union while not being a full member, Gul said that's why Turkey had a particular importance.
Gul noted that they were sure that the Progress Report which will be ready in October would be objective.
On the other hand, Lamy noted that although there were good commercial relations between Turkey and the EU, they should be further improved. Lamy stressed that there were still steps that should be taken by Turkey and EU, respectively.
Stressing that Turkey had taken very important steps to fulfill the EU criteria, Lamy said that Ankara had made a great progress in political reforms, rule of law, democratization and rights of minorities.
Noting that he had the chance to observe the results of the progress made during his visit to Turkey, Lamy said that accession to the EU had become the core of Turkey's policies.
Upon another question, Lamy said that only fulfillment of Copenhagen criteria would be taken into consideration as making a decision to open accession talks with Ankara.
Lamy also added that he observed that there is a positive atmosphere in Turkey regarding foreign investments.
(EÖ-UK-ULG) 22.07.2004