EP President Schulz hols contacts in Ankara

As part of an official visit to Ankara, European Parliament President Martin Schulz yesterday met with President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek, EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis and leaders of the three opposition parties. Schulz also spoke at the inauguration of "Civil Society Facility - Parliamentary Exchange and Dialogue" at the Parliament, urging minorities to be involved in the reform process and calling for equal protection for religious and ethnic minorities in the new constitution. Furthermore, Schulz condemned a suicide attack which killed one and wounded 18 others in the central province of Kayseri, stressing that the EU stands with Turkey in its resolve to fight against terrorism and that nothing justifies such indiscriminate violence. "We may look at this Facility within the broader context of the "Positive Agenda" that was launched during Commissioner Fule's visit on 17 May of this year and fully supported by the Member States. The best way to further develop the common strategic interests of the EU and Turkey is to engage in a wide variety of frank, face-to-face discussions as foreseen in this Exchange and Dialogue. It is my sincere hope that the understanding and close ties brought about by this Facility will help to make progress with those chapters frozen for political reasons and in particular those highlighted by Stefan Fule during his visit," Schulz said, adding, "Having parliamentarians from the European Parliament or from the National Parliaments of the Member States visit Ankara will help those in the Grand National Assembly and Turkish civil society to know that many EU leaders are behind them in this journey towards membership. They can see what being in EU means on a first-hand basis, what implementing the acquis has meant for national legislatures. That joining the EU does not mean losing a sense of self, but rather means allowing Turkey to contribute to the common European narrative." The Parliamentary Exchange and Dialogue jointly conducted by both the Turkish Parliament and EU aims to increase inter-parliamentary dialogue between Turkey and the EP and EU member countries and increase the Parliament's role in Turkey's EU membership talks. Following his contacts, Schulz held a press conference in Ankara. Speaking to reporters, Schulz described himself as a strong defender of Turkey's EU membership and said there were still issues that should be resolved between the union and Turkey. The EP president said the state of Turkey's negotiation process, visa debate, the Greek Cypriot term presidency ahead and the ongoing constitutional reform process in Turkey were the core issues discussed during his talks with Turkish officials yesterday. In response to a question on whether he had concerns about the freedom of press in Europe, Schulz said he had always criticized restrictions against the media. "Freedom of media is a world-wide problem, not only in one country," he said. Schulz also praised Turkey's political and material support especially in relation to Syria, defining it as "invaluable."