The EU ministers told Ciller Turkey had every right to aspire to full EU membership but must make progress on human rights, the Kurdish issue and its disputes with Greece.
Turkey starts building gas pipeline to Iran.
Despite U.S. criticism, Turkey began building part of a pipeline today to carry natural gas from Iran and Turkmenistan to Turkey and the rest of Europe. Nicholas Burns U.S. State Dept. The faithful ally with the two faces slams U.S. State Department's critisism on Turkey's ties with Tripoli. Boston Globe, October 10, 1996. During the same period, Erbakan and Refah leaders pledged their support for Hamas and other fundamentalist terrorist groups seeking to halt the Middle East peace process and to overthrow Egypt's secular government.