ARINC: ''TURKEY PASSED THE CRITICAL THRESHOLD IN MEETING COPENHAGEN CRITERIA''
ANKARA - ''Turkey passed the critical threshold in meeting Copenhagen Political Criteria, which is a precondition to start entry talks (of Turkey with the EU),'' Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said on Tuesday.
Arinc received NATO Parliamentary Assembly delegation currently in Ankara.
Arinc said transatlantic relations and NATO in this respect constitute one of the fundamental elements of Turkey's foreign policy, stressing that, ''Turkey believes that North Atlantic Alliance plays a vital and indispensable role as regards security of Europe and the world.''
Arinc said Turkey, which is a strong member of the alliance, attached great importance to EU membership as well as NATO membership.
Arinc said, ''we have reached an important stage in our EU membership process. We expect a firm date to be set to start entry negotiations (to the EU) in the report expected to be published by the EU Commission on October 6.''
He indicated that ''Turkey has become a more democratic country thanks to the amendments to the Constitution and laws issued on many areas.''
Briefing his interlocutors about the reforms in Turkey, Arinc said, ''the (Turkish) Parliament will continue to advocate peace and democracy ideals of NATO.''
Arinc said humanity should adopt a common stance against terrorism, adding ''we always reiterated that a joint front should be formed to fight international terrorism. We believe that terrorist acts can not be justified whatever its reason is.''
He also launched an appeal that membership talks (to NATO) with Albania, Macedonia and Croatia to start soon, and added, ''we hope the next NATO summit will be an expansion summit where those three countries will be invited to adhere (to the Alliance). Similarly, we also believe that inclusion of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia & Montenegro to the Partnership for Peace (PfP) Program is necessary.
(AY-ULG) 07.09.2004