EU Aid and Development Commissioner Louis Michel responded to French President Jacques Chirac, who said during a visit to Armenia that Turkey should recognize the Armenian Genocide to become a European Union member. Belgian Commissioner Michel stated on Sunday that the EU could not produce new political criteria regarding Turkey’s EU membership. Commissioner Michel stressed that “some people are trying to change the rules after the game has begun.” “We have to understand the importance of Turkey,” he stressed. Michel added that Turkey was important for the bloc and it played a key role in the region, citing that one must merely look at the crossroads of energy pipelines to see how important Turkey was. “Turkey needs the EU, but the EU needs Turkey more,” Michel highlighted, the Zaman Turkish newspaper writes.
When asked whether Turkey should recognize the Armenian Genocide to join the European Union, Chirac said: “Honestly, I believe it should. Each country grows by acknowledging its dramas and mistakes of the past” during a visit to the Armenian capital Yerevan.
