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25 octobre 2004

BRUSSELS, (Anadolu Agency) - "We have asked Belgian parliamentarians to convince deputies of other EU member states regarding Turkey`s EU membership bid," said Yasar Yakis, chairman of the Turkish Parliamentary Commission for Adjustment to the EU.

Yakis and accompanying delegation are currently in Belgium for a working visit. Yakis told reporters, "we have met senators, deputies and members of the European Parliament. We have expressed our concerns about progress report which was published about Turkey by European Commission on October 6th."

Meanwhile, Sukru Elekdag, a member of the commission and a Republican People`s Party (CHP) deputy, told reporters that leaving entry talks open-ended would cause indefiniteness. He added, "we will have difficulty in explaining the policies of the government to people. This condition will affect Turkey`s foreign policy as well."

Noting, "we are very uneasy about the possibility of permanent ban on free movement of Turkish labor force," Elekdag said, "it is against the philosophy of the Union."

Upon a question, Elekdag and Yakis said that they wanted historians to come together to research so-called Armenian genocide but Armenians did not want to open their archives to researchers and discuss them.