ANKARA - Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said on Thursday that the European Union (EU) was a state policy and noted, ''I do not find it right to ignore EU membership although we have made such a commitment.''
Cicek told reporters that there was a good political atmosphere to make justice reform and that this reform would be made in cooperation with the opposition party and other relevant people and institutions.
Noting that important steps for EU membership should be taken, Cicek said that the Justice Ministry would be the focal point when the requirements to be done were taken into consideration.
Stating that continuity was important in the state, Cicek noted that they would bring onto the agenda of the parliament the regulations on amendment to fundamental laws which had earlier been prepared by his ministry.
Asked about what kind of legal arrangements would be made for EU full membership, Cicek said, ''EU is a state policy. Accesssion to the EU is a state policy. We cannot say that the former government did this and we won't continue them. The Accession Partnership Document was adopted at the parliament. I do not find it right to ignore EU membership although we have made such a commitment. There were some zig-zags during the election process but, the elections remained in the past now. We will take up all the commitments with a common understanding in the parliament.''
Asked when political bans would be lifted, Cicek said that they would try to keep up with the dates set in the urgent action plan.
Noting that obstacles had to be lifted, Cicek said, ''on one hand we are trying to join the EU, on the other hand we cannot explain decisions and implementations of some public institutions contrary to this process. We cannot explain how Erdogan, the leader of the political party that has come to power with a majority, is banned from politics when we are saying that 'we want to join the EU.' This will be a tool for some circles that oppose to our EU accession. Obstacles have to be lifted. If there is a deficiency or mistake in the laws, we have to deal with them. We also have to observe the problems in implementation. When the state policy is towards accession to the EU, some organs should not have a contrary understanding with their decisions.''