PARIS - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that ''Turkey has done its homework in fulfilling the Copenhagen Criteria and that December 17th will be a test for Europe.'' ''The European Union must pass the test successfully,'' remarked Erdogan.
In a press conference in the OECD building in Paris Erdogan told reporters that ''Turkey has been waiting for the past 50 years to become a member of the European Union.'' ''We expect the accession talks to begin in December'' added Erdogan.
At the OECD meeting, Erdogan praised the Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi for reminding Italian politicians not to make the membership issue of Turkey a matter of local politics. ''The topic of Turkey's membership should not be a matter of discussion at the local level in France either,'' Erdogan remarked.
Referring to a possible full membership of Turkey in the EU, Erdogan said that ''Turkey has strong economic and political ties with the Middle Eastern countries.'' ''As a full EU member, Turkey will contribute to the modernization of the Middle East as well,'' added Erdogan.
According to PM Erdogan, Turkey is ''one of the countries that is trying to help the Iraqi people by providing medicine and food.'' ''While trying to help the people of Iraq, we have witnessed attacks on Turks in Iraq that resulted in deaths of 50 Turkish citizens,'' reminded Erdogan.
''Aside from Iraq, we want to help resolve the dispute between Israel and Palestine,'' he also said.
-THE RELIGIOUS FACTOR-
Responding to a question on whether the issue of religion will be a factor in EU's decision, Erdogan reiterated that in talks with his friends, he has been informed that the European Union is not a Christian club. ''I do not want to say that the issue of religion will be a factor against Turkey's membership,'' he said.
Replying a question on the alleged Armenian genocide, the Prime Minister Erdogan stated that those who talk about a so-called genocide have not properly studied Ottoman and Turkish archives. ''We urge them to carefully study those archives,'' he said. ''As a friendly gesture, we have opened our air-space to Armenian commercial jets,'' noted Erdogan. ''We do not want to make enemies. We are striving to establish good contacts and relations across the world,'' told Erdogan.
The Prime Minister Erdogan has described the newly announced OECD report as a document that confirms Turkey's recent economic achievements. ''We highly value the OECD report and know that it will shed a 'light' on future projects of Turkey,'' declared Erdogan. (ULG) 21.10.2004