ANKARA - Full membership negotiations should be opened in months, not years, Turkish Acting Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Wednesday.
Gul told a press conference that the Commission recommended to open negotiations with Turkey, and said, ''it was what we expected from the Commission.''
Noting that the European Council would convene on December 17th to decide whether or not to open entry talks with Turkey, Gul expressed belief that the Council would make a decision in line with today's decision of the Commission.
Asked what ''different criteria and measures for Turkey'' were, Gul said that Turkey had been undergoing a screening process for the last four years, and a screening would be made after official start of negotiations.
Gul noted that it was in fact in question for many of the countries who became a full member before, but those countries had not undergone screening before negotiations started.
Stating that there was no need for a new screening process, Gul expressed belief that Turkey would overcome this process very quickly if it was held.
Gul said, ''Turkey is ahead of many countries, but we consider such a move as a contradiction.''
Asked if Turkey was uneasy about the expressions in the report like the negotiations were ''open-ended'', Gul said that this matter was misunderstood, and noted that Turkey had fulfilled its responsibilities and would continue to do so.
Gul stated that the EU would also fulfil its own responsibilities. Noting that the result of this process was full membership, Gul said that full membership depended on Turkey's performance.
Answering a question when negotiations might begin, Gul said that Turkey had met democratic principles that were valid in the EU, and negotiations should start in months, not years.
Asked about the limitations to labor force, Gul said that the EU did not want its own order to be shaken, and therefore, it could take temporary measures against sudden incidents that might shake its balance. He added that limitation of Turkish labor force might be a move within the same framework.
When recalled of the statements in the report that negotiations might be suspended, Gul said, ''it is obvious. What is valid in the EU is democratic values. When Turkey fulfils them, it gets a green light for negotiations. But, some extraordinary situations may occur. But, I believe such extraordinary incidents will not occur regarding Turkey. But, theoretically, everything could happen.''
Gul said that such rules were valid for even all member countries under the seventh article of the Nice Treaty, and such an implementation was carried out for Austria.
When asked why such an expression was included in the progress report although it was an article of Nice Treaty, Gul said it was also valid for other countries like Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia, and noted that EU faced some problems in enlargement process.
Gul said, ''this is a historic development for not only Turkey but also EU. Both parties should continue (their path) with win-win principle. This is not any easy process.''
When he was recalled that the report talked about Turkish citizens of Kurdish and Alaouite origins as ''minority'', Gul said, ''such a thing is out of question.''
(BRC-MS) 06.10.2004