( Cihan ) - European Parliament appointed a new Turkey rapporteur, Ria Oomen-Ruijteninted after previous rapporteur Camiel Eurlings left the post to be the Dutch transportation minister.
Rujiten will from now on present the annual reports assessing the progress of the EU-Turkey accession negotiations to the parliament.
In her first statement Rujiten said that the key issue was that Turkey showed it fully supported the European core values including democracy, the rule of law and human rights.
Rujiten also expressed support for the diplomacy of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and said that the recent declaration of Erdogan showed that he was not afraid of the army who threatened to intervene in the selection of the President of Turkey.
"He therefore deserves our respect" said the rapporteur and added that Erdogan's proposition to choose the president of Turkey by direct elections and not by Parliament showed his effort for democracy in Turkey.
"Nevertheless, Turkey is by far ready to enter the EU" said Rujiten and pointed out that religious minorities like the Christians or Alawites still did not have full rights.
Progress in many other problem areas such as the Cyprus situation, the Kurdish issue and freedom of speech were the issues to be further tackled according to Rujiten.