Turkey Would Attend Brussels Meeting In Case No Change Is Made On Common Position Paper, Babacan

ANKARA - Turkish FM Ali Babacan said on Monday that Turkey would attend Brussels meeting (scheduled for Tuesday), in case EU General Affairs and External Relations Council approve a common position paper without any change.
Responding to a question about Turkey-EU Partnership Council meeting, Babacan said he had telephone conversations with the Slovenia rotating presidency and European Commission executives at the weekend, and he was told that no change was envisaged on the document.
Asked to comment on the EU statements on Turkish jurisdiction, Babacan said Turkey was a candidate (to the EU), and referred to negotiation framework document on which Turkey and the EU agreed in 2005.
"When Turkey-EU relations are considered both in legal and political framework, it is natural for the EU to make comments, to prepare reports and posture statements regarding the developments in Turkey," Babacan said.
"This is common practice for all candidate countries and will continue till Turkey becomes a full member. Moreover, there are rules and standards that member countries should abide by as a requirement of full membership," he said.
"What we should do is to make sure that developments in Turkey are understood well, to ensure them access to accurate information, and to be in close dialogue in all studies in question," Babacan said.
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(AY-ULG)