TURKEY MAY SAY ‘NO’ TO EU
News.am
17:22 / 10/16/2009
President of Turkey Abdullah Gul says Turkey might not be willing
to join the EU club. "If the negotiation process is successfully
concluded the French and the Austrians will go to a referendum and
will say "yes" or "no" to Turkey. But maybe, on that day, Turkey will
say "Thanks, but NO, we have decided to follow a different way," he
said Oct. 9 in Paris at the conference "French-Turkish Partnership:
To be Stronger in Europe and the World", TRT informs.
The message was mostly addressed to France which has been skeptical
about Turkey’s membership in EU. Gul underlines that Turkey becoming
a stronger country is also in the interest of France and EU.
"Indeed, you want strong partners. The tasks you can accomplish with a
weak partner are limited. This is the reason of our insistence on EU
membership, because the process is refreshing Turkey and carrying us
to EU standards. Turkey will do what’s necessary by herself. We don’t
have any requests from other countries. We just say ‘Let us improve
ourselves.’ Do not consider Turkey as a 71 million population. Turkey
has a larger hinterland. You can reach out to Middle East, Caucasus,
Central Asia and Russia easily via Turkey," he said.
French Economy, Labor and Industry Minister Christine Lagarde stated
Turkey has seen a rapid growth in recent years and became an important
actor in the global economy.
State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said Europe can
become a "real global power" with Turkey being included in the club,
TRT informs.