Schmidt: Turkey Has To Abide By Copenhagen Criteria

BURSA (A.A) - 22.05.2002 - German Ambassador to Turkey Rudolf Schmidt said late on Tuesday that Turkey had to abide by Copenhagen criteria like all other candidate countries.
Schmidt attended a meeting organized by Bursa Active Young Businessmen's Association (BUGIAD) in which cultural and commercial relations between Turkey and Germany were taken up.
German Ambassador Schmidt said that the religious differences in regard of values of European Union (EU) were not important.
Schmidt noted that when the EU granted candidate status to Turkey, it was aware of the religious differences.
However, Turkey had to abide by Copenhagen criteria like all the other candidates, Schmidt stated.
Schmidt pointed out that tolerance to different religions was a main principle in the EU.
The fact that the majority of the population in Turkey was Muslim did not constitute an obstacle for EU membership, Schmidt said.
Schmidt stated that they should be mutually tolerant and that being tolerant to believers of other religions did not mean withdrawal from one's own religion.
Turkey had taken very important steps which could be called as reforms, Schmidt noted.
However, Schmidt said, implementation of the laws that had been passed was also important.