Türkiye "Turkey's candidacy for the European Union should not be a matter of Germany's domestic politics"

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder made statements to the press during the Turkish politician's visit to Berlin. Erdoğan stated, "We haven't forgotten the Prime Minister's support, which began at the Copenhagen Summit and continued in Thessaloniki." He added that Turkey's intention was to begin discussions on the country's accession to the EU in December 2004. "We hope a date will be set to begin these discussions. We have submitted four sets of amendments to Parliament in nine months. Germany's support truly facilitates our work. Turkey's accession should not be a matter of domestic politics in Germany," he continued.

The Turkish Prime Minister commented that the issue of the problems in Iraq, whose events are like a fire in the region, was also discussed. Erdogan added: "It is our duty to extinguish this fire. We are doing everything within our power, on a human level."