THE HAGUE (AA) - Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Wednesday that there were not any problems with the non-Muslim population in Turkey.
Gul held a joint press conference in the Hague with Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot and European Commissioner for enlargement Olli Rehn at the end of the Turkey-EU Troika meeting.
FM Gul expressed belief that the European Union (EU) would make an objective and impartial decision (on whether and when to open negotiations with Turkey) in the European Council meeting to be held on December 17th.
Gul said that EU`s former resolutions stated that negotiations with Turkey would be opened till end of 2004 without delay if the European Commission`s report on Turkey was positive, and these resolutions were also confirmed in the EU summits held after 2002.
``Therefore, as the Commission prepared a positive report, we wait for the decision the Council will make on December 17th. We believe that this decision will be objective and impartial,`` Gul stated.
Gul noted that Turkey expressed its views about many issues during the meeting, and they discussed not only Turkey-EU relations, but also developments regarding Iraq, Iran and the Caucasus.
Views expressed during this meeting would shed light to the European Council due on December 17th, and contribute to decisions to be taken that day, Gul pointed out.
Answering a question on religious freedom, Gul said that many churches had existed in Turkey throughout history, and new churches were being opened.
Gul noted that granting religious freedom and enabling places of worship was the main right of members of different religions living in one country.
Stating that there were not any problems with non-Muslim population in Turkey, Gul said that they had solved some problems that occurred in the past.
Answering a question on Cyprus issue, Gul said that he was sorry that the problem could not have been resolved yet, and noted that a serious opportunity was missed as the Greek Cypriots voted ``no`` to the Annan plan.
Gul underlined that finding a solution to Cyprus issue was not only linked to Turkey.
FM Gul said that Turkey was aware of its responsibilities on the road to EU, and stressed that it would do what was necessary on this road.
-GUL CONDEMNS MURDER OF VAN GOGH-
Referring to the social tension that escalated after the murder of Dutch film producer Theo van Gogh, FM Gul said that the fact that a person of Muslim origin was behind that murder should not make all Muslims living in the Netherlands guilty.
Gul condemned this murder and expressed his regret, and said that Turkey wanted to see the EU as a place where people of different languages, religions and cultures co-existed.
-DUTCH FOREIGN MINISTER-
On the other hand, Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot said that the decision to be made on Turkey on December 17th would be in line of the progress report prepared by the European Commission.
Noting that Turkey had made serious progress, Bot said that today`s meeting was fruitful because they listened to views of Turkey.
Stating that they expected Turkey to complete legal work on six matters, Bot pointed to importance of those laws for opening of negotiations with Turkey.
Bot hoped that the matter regarding Turkey`s non-recognition of the Greek Cypriot side could be solved before full membership negotiations were started.
Stressing importance of implementation of reforms in Turkey, Bot said that the European Commission would be very careful when negotiations with Turkey continued and evaluate the implementation in detail.
-EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR ENLARGEMENT-
Meanwhile, European Commissioner for enlargement Olli Rehn said that if the EU leaders decide to open negotiations with Turkey on December 17th, they are ready to start the monitoring process without delay.
Rehn noted that this was the first time he attended a formal meeting regarding Turkey, and said that the new European Commission headed by Barosso attached great importance to relations with Turkey.
Gul later left the Netherlands for Italy.
(BRC-A֩
2004-11-24