"We have issued a declaration together with the protocol. This declaration cannot be separated from protocol. Thus, in this way we showed our reservation.''
''Turkey had two things to do at the December 17th summit. One of them was to adopt 5 laws. Turkish parliament adopted all of them and they are started to be implemented. Those were laws actually for Turkey's modernization,'' said Gul.
Gul noted, ''The second thing was to approve officially the functioning of Customs Union by covering new EU members. And we also fulfilled this.''
''We have sent three papers to EU Acting Presidency. A cover text, the protocol and the declaration. These three papers constitute a package which cannot be separated. These papers will also be sent to parliament for approval,'' he said.
Adding that, ''Turkey's stance is certain. Turkey's intention is clear. It is clearly expressed what Turkey understands about Cyprus republic. Its reasons are shown. Solution efforts continue in the UN. Also, the island (Cyprus) has two parts de facto now. Turkey also said that it will continue to recognize Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and pursue its relations similarly.''
