TURKEY: BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY JACK STRAW MEETS ABDULLAH GUL FOR TALKS ON EUROPEAN UNION

Record ID: 222798

  • Title: TURKEY: BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY JACK STRAW MEETS ABDULLAH GUL FOR TALKS ON EUROPEAN UNION
  • Date: 7th October 2004
  • Summary: (W4) ANKARA, TURKEY (OCTOBER 7, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. SLV ABDULLAH GUL AND JACK STRAW WALKING OUT ONTO STEPS FOR NEWS CONFERENCE 0.11 2. SLV MEDIA 0.16 3. SCU (SOUNDBITE)(Turkish) TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER ABDULLAH GUL SAYING: "It had been a historical recommendation, it had been an important step. We are working on the technical details as the government but we see that there are some points contradictory with the Helsinki decisions. I say it with regards to the methods that will be applied during the discussions. We will be in close touch with member countries, starting with the United Kingdom in the coming days. We hope that when the leaders of the European Union will meet at the Council in December 17th, they will take a clear and open decision on start the negotiations with Turkey, and approve the start of negotiations with Turkey." 1.11 4. VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS 1.23 5. WIDE OF PRESS CONFERENCE 1.29 6. SCU (SOUNDBITE)(English) BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY JACK STRAW SAYING: "Turkey has made very big progress through a build up of momentum and my sense of this is that after a while everybody will say 'What's the argument? Of course Turkey should be here. Turkey is a great European country, a crossroads of continents, of course it should be there.' So Turkey and its friends, of which we count ourselves as a key friend, can help to make to make Turkey's future in a positive way. 1.58 7. SLV MEDIA 2.06 8. SLV STRAW LEAVING AND GETTING INTO CAR 2.18 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 22nd October 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ANKARA/TURKEY
  • Country: Turkey
  • Reuters ID: LVAEY0SVY7G6QPK791G642WCQN6V
  • Story Text: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw meets his
    Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul in Ankara.



    British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is in Ankara to
    meet with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul. Straw,
    whose country is one of Turkey's strongest advocates within
    the EU, tried to reassure his hosts that opposition to
    Turkish membership would gradually weaken once the talks
    begin.

    "We hope that a clear and open decision will be taken
    by the Council (of EU leaders in December)," Turkish
    Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told a joint news conference
    with his British counterpart Jack Straw, who was on a brief
    trip to Ankara.

    Straw said "My sense of this is that after a while
    everybody will say 'What's the argument? Of course Turkey
    should be here.' It is a great European country, a
    crossroads of continents."
    Straw said he believed negotiations would start
    "without delay" after Luxembourg takes over the EU's
    rotating six-month presidency in January, though many
    diplomats say the second half of 2005, when Britain itself
    takes the helm, is more realistic.

    Straw also played down the wording in the Commission's
    recommendation describing the negotiations as an
    "open-ended process whose outcome cannot be guaranteed
    beforehand".

    The Foreign Secretary left Turkey after his short visit.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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