Zaman Online
INTERNATIONAL 03.24.2005 Thursday – ISTANBUL 22:18
Rehn: Ease up on Comments regarding Domestic Policy Interpretations
By Selcuk Gultasli
Published: Thursday 24, 2005
zaman.com
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul who attended the European Union
(EU) midterm summit in Brussels yesterday (March 23) met with the
EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy,
Javier Solana and the EU Commissioner responsible for EU enlargement,
Olli Rehn.
Touching on recent criticisms regarding the Turkish government’s
slowing of EU reforms in a news conference held after the meeting,
Gul said some EU members faced problems due to the EU constitution
referendum and they are currently pursuing a policy not to aggravate
these problems. The Minister also added that he negotiated the issue
with Rehn and in response the Enlargement Commissioner told Gul that
those were the interpretations made according to the developments
on domestic politics and suggested that they should not dwell on
to them too much. Addressing the allegations about the so-called
Armenian “genocide”, Gul said they would enforce a mechanism that
will convince countries into recognizing the truth of the genocide
by proving their arguments; however, the Turkish Minister abstained
from giving any details.
Meanwhile, EU leaders decided to form a group to ascertain whether
or not Croatians had cooperated sufficiently with the United Nations
(UN) War Crimes Court in order to begin negotiations. The group will
consist of the EU term President, the EU Commission, the upcoming
term president, Great Britain, and Austria who will instigate the
term transfer. Vienna is known for its opposition to Turkey.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress