Swoboda and other members of an EP delegation met yesterday with Turkish parliamentary Foreign Affairs Commission Deputy Chairman Mehmet Ceylan.

During the meeting, Ceylan stated that they attach great importance to European Union reports on Turkey and that recent reports have been positive and constructive. Noting that Turkey's stance toward EU accession is clear, Ceylan said: "We target full membership. No option other than this is acceptable to us."

Ceylan further stressed that Turkey has been fighting against the PKK, which has recently increased its attacks on security forces and civilians. He maintained that the PKK is trying to portray the matter as a Kurdish issue or regional ethnic problem. "Some of our European friends, though they are few in number, believe them. Turkey does not have a Kurdish issue. What we have is a terrorism issue. Turks, Kurds, Laz and Circassians have lived together in peace in these lands until now, and they will continue to live together in the future. It is true that the eastern and southeastern provinces are less developed than other parts of the country. The main reasons for this are the mountainous terrain of the region, restricted options for transportation and 30 years of terrorism. Recently, we have mobilized ample resources for the development of the region. But this has offended the terrorist organization. The people living in the region have no resentment toward the government," he said.

Swoboda, in return, noted that they have been observing Turkey's active foreign policy with satisfaction but that this should not be regarded a replacement for the reform process. He further argued that it is unfortunate that it has not been emphasized that Turkey and Croatia were in different situations when they began membership negotiations. "This is not because Croatia is Catholic and Turkey is an Islamic country. This is not among our negotiation criteria. The two countries are equal in this respect," he said. Swoboda said that since the Franjo Tudjman era, both left-wing and right-wing parties in Croatia have greatly supported the reform process. "Currently, the status of reforms in Croatia is a bit different from that in Turkey and Croatia when they began negotiations. But both countries believe that the EU has done an injustice to them," he added.

He also touched on the terrorism issue. "We have received information about a Kurdish issue that is independent of terrorism. Indeed, if this was a matter only of backwardness or economic problems of the region, then the Turkish government would not have taken steps in culture issues such TV broadcasts in Kurdish," he said.

Swoboda added: "We have never condemned terrorism so strongly as we did recently. Of course, there are economic and social problems. For this reason, we are glad to see that the government has been taking measures to boost the economic development of the region. But some Kurds believe that they are not shown due respect, particularly in intellectual matters. As the unfair process against the Justice and Democratic Party [AK Party] had been settled, we hope that the process concerning the DTP will be settled similarly. We hope that the courts will not terminate the parliamentary activities of the DTP. We have advised the representatives of the DTP to draw a very clear and sharp line between the Kurdish issue and terrorism and do something for their own people and distance themselves from Öcalan."