Turkish premier in Berlin, meets Turkish citizens living in Germany
Anatolia news agency, Ankara
25 May 06
Text of report in English by Turkish news agency Anatolia; subheadings
inserted editorially
Berlin, 25 May: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met
Turkish citizens living in Germany at Urania Hall in Berlin on
Thursday [26 May].
Touching on importance of economy, Erdogan said, “today, especially in
developed countries, economy directs politics. Economy shapes politics
in the countries which have strong economies. Turkey aims to be among
top 10 countries in terms of national income in 2012.”
“Today there is stability and confidence in Turkish economy. In
previous periods, only 1 billion dollars of foreign capital was
flowing into Turkey, but this amount rose to 9 billion dollars last
year. We have made important privatization within 1.5 years, which
were not fulfilled in 20 years. We have repaid an important part of
our debt to IMF. Now our debt to IMF is 11.5 billion dollars. Also we
attach great importance to education, and we allocated the largest
part of the budget to education.”
Turks in Europe, EU issue
Regarding the condition of Turkish citizens living in Europe, Erdogan
said: “Turkish citizens in Europe should use their right to vote and
be elected in the best way. They should use citizenship
rights. Turkish government will give necessary support to
them. Currently 2.7m Turks are living in Germany, and 700.000 of them
are citizens of Germany. Turkey’s EU process is still
continuing. Screening process is under way. We hope it will be
completed this year.
Turks in Europe should lobby for Turkey in this process.”
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met representatives of
Turkish non-governmental organizations in Germany on Thursday.
Erdogan said that he will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel
tomorrow and discuss regional issues as well as EU related matters.
Erdogan recalled that first meeting of Turkish-German Economy Congress
had been held in Turkey, adding that they would like to hold the
second meeting in Germany and to speed up the process.
Noting that Turkey hopes to complete screening process within the
scope of EU talks by the end of this year, Erdogan said that meetings
on this issue have been pursued successfully so far.
Islamophobia, “alliance of civilizations”
When a representative said Islamphobia has spread in Germany, Erdogan
said, “we declared anti-Semitism as a humanity crime, and asked
officials to declare Islamphobia as a humanity crime too. You cannot
use the words Islam and terrorism together. The word Islam means
peace. You cannot reconcile such a religion with terrorism.”
“The last summit of Alliance of Civilizations will be held in
Istanbul, and a report will be prepared, and it will be submitted to
other countries.
Alliance of Civilizations is very important. Establishment of
communication between peoples is very important. We should improve the
communication. We should introduce Turkish people in Germany in the
best way,” Erdogan added.
Armenian issue
When a participant said Armenian issue is a problem for them too,
Erdogan said, “500,000 Armenians in France cause chaos. But we feel
comfortable with the issue. We do not have any doubt about our
ancestors. We have opened our archives. Scientists shall prepare a
report, and then we discuss the issue. One million documents are open
in Turkey (about Armenian issue), and anyone can read them.”