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YEREVAN, 13 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. Turkey’s accession to the European Union is currently not included in the European Union’s agenda. This is what Co-Chairman of the Alliance ‘90/The Greens Party Cem Özdemir said in an interview with “Armenpress”.“Unfortunately, both sides have become very detached from each other. My political party was in favor of providing Turkey with the opportunity to join the European Union and be treated equally, regardless of whether Turkey would fulfill the Copenhagen criteria or not. We believe religion can’t be a criterion for accession,”the Turkish deputy of the German parliament said.
Based on the political criteria for accession to the European Union, the aspirant country is required to ensure stability of democracy, rule of law, as well as the protection of human rights and minorities. Cem Özdemir also noted that Turkey also has to solve problems with freedom of speech prior to EU accession.“Citizens of Turkey have to be able to refer to the genocide as “genocide”. The right to freedom of speech implies diversity of opinion. It’s clear that Hrant Dink was murdered for his views and opinions and because he wanted to change Turkey’s attitude towards Armenia,”he said, adding that the opening of the border with Armenia is in Turkey’s interest because “it will be easier to negotiate with an open border, including over the Nagorno-Karabakh issue”.