Strasbourg, 07/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - "I welcome the recommendation of the European Commission's progress report on Turkey to open EU accession negotiations with this country", the Council of Europe Secretary General said on Wednesday in Strasbourg. Terry Davis, who welcomed Turkey's Prime Minister, congratulated him on the impressive speed and impact of democratic reforms during the last two years in this country. "Of course, the reform process needs to be continued, and Turkey, which has been a Council of Europe member since 1949, can count on our full support to make this process irreversible", Mr Davis added.
Speaking before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was confident that the positive tone set by the Commission's report and recommendation will be matched by the political will on the part of the leadership of the Member States of the Union. He reaffirmed that Turkey will do everything it can to conclude negotiations "within a reasonable period of time". In his view, "the transformation that has taken place in Turkish society is also reflected in the adoption of the European culture of compromise, as was demonstrated in the policy of the Turkish Government in efforts to find a solution to the Cyprus problem". After expressing regret that the referendum had been rejected by the Greek Cypriots, Mr Erdogan felt the time had come to put an end to the political, economic, social and cultural isolation of the Turkish Cypriots, and called for the economic embargo imposed on the northern part of the island to be lifted. The Prime Minister welcomed the Assembly's decision to welcome the elected representatives of the Turkish-Cypriot community as "it is only natural that the Turkish Cypriots who have made a European choice take their due place in this forum for pan-European dialogue and cooperation". Mr Erdogan also encouraged the Council of Europe to play a more active role in combating terrorism and to intensify its contacts with the Organisation of Islamic Conference to promote a dialogue between diverse cultures and religions.
On 4 October, at the opening of the plenary session, the Assembly decided that two elected representatives of the Turkish Cypriot community would now hold seats in these ranks. One of the two will be authorised to take the floor at every sitting. Their names will be recorded in the Assembly's directory on the page devoted to Cyprus.