ARMENIAN PATRIARCH OF TURKEY LOBBIES FOR TURKEY°S EU MEMBERSHIP

BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS:Turkey°s Armenian Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan said on Friday that minorities in Turkey live in harmony and they are not isolated. He was meeting with EU Commission President Romano Prodi and some officials of the EU Commission in Brussels the same day, Turkish semi-official Anadolu news agency reported. Speaking to the press about his contacts, Mutafyan said that he gave the message in his contacts that religions should not be brought against each other during countries° accession process into EU. Noting that the fact that Turkey is a Muslim country should not be even voiced in this process, Mutafyan said representatives of three big religions live in harmony with each other in Turkey. He said that he does not approve certain European conservatives who bring onto agenda the issue as if there is a clash among civilizations, adding that this is against the religion and Bible. °°Prodi told me that EU has never brought onto forefront the religious criteria in EU, he said the thing that matters is Copenhagen criteria and that there was no religious factor in it, but the EU is only concerned about the right to freedom of religion and conscience. EU is only concerned if Muslims, Christians and Jews have equal rights in Turkey and attributes importance to fulfillment of criteria such as freedom of foundations, training of clergy and teaching of languages. Prodi said that EU takes these issues into consideration in respect of the future of Europe,°° said Mutafyan. Mutafyan stated, °°I told them that we have a good dialogue in Turkey and we do not consider ourselves as a minority which is pushed aside and which is not taken into consideration. I also said that we can express ourselves. I noted that all minorities in Turkey have this approach.°° Noting that he asked for support for opening of Turkey°s EU membership negotiations in Copenhagen, Mutafyan said, °°Prodi mentioned positive things when talking about Turkey. He said that he saw Turkey in Europe vision but they had some expectations.°° Expressing uneasiness about the views of some West European Christian democrats against Turkey, Mutafyan said, °°Europeanism is a whole of values. There is not a homogeneous Christianity in Europe. Also, there are millions of Muslims. These are not only Turks. It is true that Christianity has a place in the history of Europe. But, if it is considered as the obligatory criteria of Europeanism, this approach will hurt not only Turkey but also other non-Christian people living in Europe. I am telling all these during my contacts.°° Mutafyan added that he would meet with Pope Jean Paul II next week.-0-/39/