Gul hails EU meeting as positive

Abdullah Gul described a meeting with the European Union Troika in Luxembourg as a positive one, saying that it was one of the quietest yet after previous meetings had witnessed heated quarrels.

"Turkey and the EU met for the first time just like two partners who attribute importance to one another. If you put aside disagreements, they met for the first time as two partners who want to listen carefully to one another," Gul told reporters on a plane en route to Ankara late on Monday.

The landmark meeting in Luxembourg, which came after Turkey wrapped up technical talks on 35 policy areas last week and before the release by the EU Commission of a key progress report, was dominated by detailed talks on Turkish-EU relations as well as the Middle East problem and Iran's disputed nuclear program.

Asked if it was possible to say that the infamous train crash had been averted at Monday's meeting, Gul said: "I never used the word 'train crash' and I did not look [at the matter] that way. We should be realistic. There are still problems, but what's important is whether they are addressed honestly or with ill-intention. I saw today that they are being approached honestly."

Brussels has warned of a train crash at the end of this year unless Turkey opens its ports and airports to traffic from EU-member Greek Cyprus. The Finnish term presidency of the bloc is trying to forge a mini-deal to avert a possible crisis in Turkish-EU ties over the Cyprus standoff.

The EU appealed to Turkey on Monday to seize the last chance to make progress on Cyprus and avert a possible freeze in Ankara's accession talks.

"This may really be the last window of opportunity for several years, and we should not miss this opportunity," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told a joint news conference after the meeting. Gul said Ankara would support proposals by the EU's Finnish presidency.

Touching on the adoption by French lawmakers last week of a controversial bill making it a crime to deny that Armenians were subjected to genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, Gul said the French vote, which may never become law, ran counter to the EU's Copenhagen criteria on democracy, freedom of speech and the rule of law.

Asked what impact it would have on EU efforts to get Turkey to amend its penal code to permit greater freedom of speech, Gul said, "We will not repeat somebody else's mistakes."

Ankara is under EU pressure to amend or scrap Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which Brussels says is restrictive of free speech.

On Monday Gul stopped short of saying Ankara would amend Article 301, under which scores of intellectuals have landed in court for denigrating Turkishness, saying the government was watching its implementation closely and would do what was necessary.

Rehn said he had noted gladly that the Turkish government was ready to examine options for addressing the problem. "It should be addressed as a matter of urgency," he said. "We see that the best and surest way of erasing this serious problem is either repealing or amending Article 301."

He also expressed pleasure over the win of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature by Turkey's internationally acclaimed author Orhan Pamuk. Gul said it was very important for the promotion of Turkey and the Turks.

Gul, speaking to reporters on the plane, also dismissed claims that the upcoming general elections would impact Turkey's EU process. "Everything we do on the way to the EU is in Turkey's interests. We're taking those steps because they are in the interests of Turkey, so why should we fear moving with steps that will be to the benefit of the Turkish public as we approach the elections?" he asked. Turkish Daily News