Boucher: E.U. Should Give Date To Turkey As Soon As Possible

WASHINGTON D.C. - U.S. State Department objected to the French-German plan which foresees EU's giving conditional date to Turkey for July 1, 2005.
''We feel strongly that Turkey should be offered an early confirmed date to begin accession negotiations and we're in contact with various other governments about that point of view,'' State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a news conference.
Boucher said ''We think that it's possible to to advance the political reform process in Turkey and to advance the process of a settlement in Cyprus, by carrying out this action at this time -- by giving them a date at this time'' he said.
Boucher said: ''We're not members of the European Union, but we have always been very strong supporters of Turkey's aspirations to join the European Union and of Turkey's wish to begin accession talks as soon as possible.''