Lagendijk meets with Erdogan, party leaders

Turkey-European Union Joint Parliamentary Committee Co-Chair Joost Lagendijk yesterday met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, along with Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin. During the meeting, Lagendijk supported the expansion of freedom of expression in Turkey. Lagendijk also met with opposition National Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli for the first time in six years. Bahceli asked Lagendijk whether he found it acceptable for the European Commission to omit any mention of positive developments in its annual Turkey progress report released last month. In reply, Lagendijk disputed Bahceli's argument, saying the report had stressed positive developments such as changes to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and Turkey's attempts to normalize relations with Armenia. Lagendijk also met with Democratic Society Party (DTP) leader Ahmet Turk.