« Building a "better-informed society" through new technology | Main | Shaping the "compact revolution" »
Monday, May 31, 2004
Turkish Prime Minister calls for EU membership, affirms commitment to press freedom at World Newspaper Congress
From Agence France Presse, reporting at the World Newspapers Congress and the World Editors Forum: "ISTANBUL, May 31 (AFP) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan on Monday vigorously called for his country's entry into the European Union as well as for freedom of expression, at an international newspaper conference. 'Today Turkey is more qualified, better prepared than others' before their membership of the European Union, he told the opening session here of the annual World Newspaper Congress.
"Turkey did not see the 25-strong bloc as an economic union but as a chance to develop 'values of civilisations' oriented towards peace, he said.
"Some 1,300 delegates from 88 countries are attending the congress until Wednesday.
"Erdogan also insisted on Turkey's efforts to ensure freedom of expression, especially in the media. A bill is currently being prepared on the issue.
"Meeting newspaper editors later, he said he did not want to see people jailed for expressing themselves. Reform to free up the press was one of the most important achieved since he took up his post, he added.
"President of the Paris-based World Association of Newspapers, Seok Hyun Hong, of South Korea, directed comments at the Turkish prime minister, saying
it was for the Turkish people to judge if he had kept his promises.
"He added '...but I must nevertheless recognise the major advances achieved in the area of the freedom of expression'.
"'Turkey has made large steps for the respect of human rights but that does not mean that we are fully satisfied,' he added.
"Turkey, a formal EU candidate since 1999, is eagerly waiting for the green light to begin membership talks with the bloc when EU leaders meet in December this year to assess the country's progress in democracy and human rights."
Souce: Agence France Presse
Posted by Bertrand Pecquerie on May 31, 2004 at 06:43 PM in n. Online strategies, s. 2004 Forum in Istanbul | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341e0b0f53ef00e55052d2788833
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Turkish Prime Minister calls for EU membership, affirms commitment to press freedom at World Newspaper Congress:
» Startseite - Musicload from MP3 Download
Die Musikdownloadplattform von T-Online mit Songs aus allen Genres. Titel sind im geschtzten Windows... [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 18, 2006 6:43:04 PM