ANKARA - Leader of the Justice & Development Party (AKP) and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey would start full membership negotiations with the EU on October 3rd, 2005, as foreseen.
TURKEY'S EU BID
Addressing the AKP parliamentary group meeting, Erdogan said: ''it would be wrong to qualify the reforms undertaken by Turkey, to adapt itself to democratic norms and integrate with the world (within the scope of Turkey's EU bid), as making concessions... Does broadening the freedoms or making laws in line with democratic norms mean making concession?... People who argue that making reforms is making concession, have problems with the increase of our living standards and broadening of freedoms in the country.''
Noting that the EU faced an important crisis today, Erdogan said that Ankara believes that EU would eventually overcome the crisis and Turkey would continue to work for its EU bid.
''Turkey will start the entry talks on October 3rd. We will be debating Maastrich criteria during this process, the Copenhagen political criteria have already been fulfilled,'' Erdogan said.
PROBLEMS THAT ARE ON THE AGENDA OF TURKISH SOCIETY
Erdogan said that privatization and headscarf problem in universities were actually on the agenda of the Turkish society, adding that the government and Turkish people could not stay indifferent to those problems.
''The debate on whether or not foreign firms will be permitted to buy privatized assets, is an outdated one. We can't compete globally as long as we don't open our economy to the world,'' said Erdogan.