Greece Calls for Turkey's Political Will for EU MembershipGreece Thursday once again urged neighboring Turkey to show its political will in its efforts to become an European Union (EU) member."Turkey will have to prove that it has the political will for the great changes it will have to make, both domestically and in its foreign policy," said Alternate Foreign Minister Elissavel Papazoi. She stressed that the EU's relations with Turkey must be clear and Athens would insist on the implementation of last December's Helsinki summit decisions concerning Ankara's EU membership. She said that Greece would contribute to setting out the framework of economic and political criteria under which Turkey would become an EU member. The minister stated that there were common rules and respect for common values, and this was demanded of every country that wished to be a candidate for the EU. For years, Greece had refused to support Turkey's European orientation because of the neighboring country's "aggressive" policy toward Greece, but Athens decided to change its position at the Helsinki summit with conditions such as Cyprus' accession to the EU should not be blocked and Turkey must change its unfriendly stance toward Greece. The two neighbors have since last June taken steps to improve their strained bilateral ties by holding several rounds of talks and signing a number of cooperation agreements. A Turkish foreign ministry delegation is to arrive in Athens Friday for a meeting of the Greek-Turkish "Directive Committee" monitoring the ratification and implementation of the pacts. On October 15, the foreign ministers of the two countries will also meet in the southeastern Greek island of Rhodes to discuss the developments of Greek-Turkish relations. |
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