Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok urged Turkey Monday to carry out the reforms it has pledged to enact on its road to membership in the European Union.
"The government of the Netherlands hopes Turkey will be able to fulfill the (EU) criteria as soon as possible," Kok said during a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit.
Turkey should work "in a way in which not only intentions are expressed, but also these intentions are translated into law and this law is implemented in daily practices in real life," he said.
Turkey was declared a candidate for EU membership last December.
Ankara has so far failed to carry out any major reform despite EU pressure to improve its much-criticized human rights record, abolish the death sentence, grant its minority Kurds cultural rights and diminish the role the Turkish military plays in political decision-making.
"We are not the one to decide about the way Turkey has to go, but of course, the outcome of the process will decide the moment Turkey can become a member of the EU," Kok said.
Both Kok and Ecevit praised relations between Turkey and the Netherlands as "excellent."
The Dutch prime minister was scheduled to meet with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi later in the day.
On Tuesday, he will visit the towns of Golcuk and Izmit, hit by devastating earthquakes last year, and then travel to Istanbul for talks with Turkish businessmen before wrapping up his visit -- ANKARA (AFP)
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