LONDON - Turkish Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul rejected suggestions that his government was suffering from ''reform fatigue'', stressing that preparations to launch membership negotiations with the European Union (EU) in October were on track.
In an exclusive interview with the Financial Times, Gul, who is currently paying a four-day visit to Britain, said, ''we know that implementation [of the reforms] is most important. We will continue. There is no way to stop this.''
Gul denied that divisions within the ruling Justice & Development Party (AK Party), between its reformist and more conservative religious wings, were slowing the process.
''We are strong, and definitely we will continue. We are the owners of the process. We are very much proud of it,'' he stressed.
Admitting that heavy-handed police action last week to control a women's rights demonstration on the eve of talks with top EU officials and ministers had damaged Turkey's international image, Gul said, ''any police found guilty of violating their responsibilities will be punished. We cannot hide this thing. It happened. A full investigation is under way, and its results will be announced in a few days. It is not up to the police to administer punishment, but merely to curb violence.''
-ECONOMY-
On the economic front, we expect the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Board to approve Turkey's latest loan in the first week of April, or even sooner. The draft law on regional subsidies will be revised to enable the IMF to approve a 10 billion U.S. dollars stand-by program by early April. There were also been very sound criticisms from Turkish business that the law would create unfair competition, by favoring some regions above others. We will look at it again.''
Gul said that Turkey was quite ready to sign the protocol extending its customs union agreement to all 10 new EU members, adding, ''but both Turkey and the other EU member states have agreed that signing the protocol did not mean a recognition of the Greek Cypriot side (by Turkey). Last week, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to reopen negotiations to reach a settlement. It is now up to the other EU states to persuade Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos to return to the table.''