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Greek president warns Turkey to respect
Kurdish rights
18.5.2006
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STRASBOURG, May
17, 2006 (AFP) - Greek President Carolos Papoulia
warned Turkey on Wednesday that it must respect
human rights, notably those of the Kurds, if it
wants closer ties with the European Union.
"I don't think that Turkey will be able to have
closer ties with the EU by violating fundamental
rights; this is true for the Kurds but not them
alone," he said in a speech at the European
Parliament.
"These are problems that are the responsibility of
the Turkish government," he said, adding that the EU
has "laid out a framework of principles within which
Turkey must operate."
Turkey was accepted in October as a candidate to
join the EU but no guarantee was given that it will
be made a member once it has undertaken reform to
bring into line with the bloc, a process likely to
take more than a decade.
The EU has long pressed Ankara to grant equal
cultural freedoms to its large Kurdish minority --
estimated at about 12 million people -- as well as
smaller, non-Muslim communities of Greeks, Armenians
and Jews.
AFP
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