ANKARA - ''As it was confirmed in Helsinki Summit, Turkey wants to be treated equally with other EU candidate countries,'' said Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc.
Arinc delivered a speech at a panel titled ''2004 Turkey EU Progress Report,'' sponsored by the Turkish Parliamentarians Union on Monday.
''European Commission made a historical decision on October 6th not only for Turkey, but also for the EU itself. It shed green light for entry negotiations and it clearly expressed that Turkey met Copenhagen criteria sufficiently,'' said Arinc.
''I believe, during heads of state and government summit on December 17th, this decision will be confirmed and entry talks for Turkey will be officially announced in first months of 2005,'' added Arinc.
He said, ''Turkey's accession will have an important contribution to the Union. We are surprised how some member countries cannot understand this reality and the dimension of Turkey's contribution.''
''EU will have more say in Eurasia geography with the membership of Turkey,'' added Arinc.
Arinc said, ''Turkey's strategical location will strengthen the EU. Turkey's young and dynamic population will be an important gain for Europe in long term. Accession of Turkey, which is highly populated with Muslims, will show the world that Muslims and Christians can live together in peace.''
Noting, ''the steps which Turkey has taken are welcomed in Progress Report of European Commission,'' Arinc said, ''actually, important reforms have been fulfilled in Turkey in the last two years to meet Copenhagen political criteria. We are pleased that the Report confirmed this success.''
''On the other hand, we see the Report also includes some different elements which were not asked for other candidate countries. We want to be treated equally with other candidate countries,'' said Arinc.
''We will share our views, concerns and expectations regarding the content of recommendatory document of the Commission with EU member countries until December 17th,'' noted Arinc.
(GC-AÖ) 01.11.2004