TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP WILL HELP WEST TO IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH THE MUSLIM WORLD

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.10.2009 15:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The vice president of the European Commission,
Gunther Verheugen, has underlined the reciprocal needs between Turkey
and the EU, saying Turkey requires the EU and vice versa; however,
the EU needs Turkey more than Turkey needs it.

"Turkey has immense strategic importance. I highlight the security
of the entire region. The EU should consider what would happen if
Turkey preferred to pursue another road other than gaining a seat
among Western states. This would pose a big risk for us, and we
had better not take it," said Verheugen, adding that Turkey’s EU
membership will be an advantage for them and that it will help Western
democracies improve relations with the Muslim world. He also warned
that the strategic importance of Turkey will not result in easing EU
membership conditions.

Touching on the idea of privileged membership, which has been proposed
by German and French leadership, instead of full-fledged EU membership
on the grounds that Turkey will not be a part of the Western world
and will fail to adopt Western values, Verheugen shared Turkey’s
stance of rejecting such an offer, saying: "A privileged membership
has already prevailed in Turkish-EU relations. It has more place than
some of the others [member countries]. It is a member of the customs
union. I do not know anything that Turkey does not have and that
the EU will give to Turkey. All that is left for Turkey is gaining
full-fledged membership."

Verheugen, currently the vice president of the EU Commission and the
European commissioner for enterprise and energy, has long been a strong
supporter of Turkish membership and worked hard for its candidacy as
enlargement commissioner from 1999 to 2004, reported Today’s Zaman.