TURKEY’S ACCESSION TO BRING CONSIDERABLE BENEFITS TO EUROPE

news.am
Nov 3 2009
Armenia

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and the former German chancellor
Gerhard Schröder took the floor at the conference organized by
SinpaÅ~_ Real Estate Investment Trust in the course of their visit
to Turkey, Turkish Hurriyet daily reports.

"Clinton praised Turkey for ‘successful endorsement of secularism
while letting people express religious beliefs without imposing them
on others,’ while Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor,
urged the European Union to keep its promise toward Turkey on full
membership."

Clinton welcomed Armenia-Turkey rapprochement, though criticized
the country for closing the Halki International Seminary. "You have
to think: While your population is growing, why is your Christian
Orthodox community shrinking?" he asked. "Do you think it is better
for the Christian Orthodox community to fall under the influence of
the Russian Church?" the former President said.

"Clinton also recalled that he was an ardent supporter of Turkey’s
accession to the EU," the daily reads. He underlined that his
"efforts on Turkey’s EU membership were also ‘for the good of the
American people’. Clinton reminded of the fact that Baku-Tbilisi-
Ceyhan oil pipeline was constructed his "tenure." ""I am happy to
see Turkey’s energy interconnections continue to expand," he stated.

In his turn, Gerhard Schröder expressed regret on the fact that
"EU does not appreciate Turkey’s role in solving regional conflicts."

Commenting on Armenia-Turkey reconciliation, Schröder said Turkey
played a crucial role "in helping find solutions to conflicts in
its region."

"Schröder said Turkey’s role in energy security will also be vital,
especially with the Nabucco and South Stream projects. As an adviser
to Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, he was careful to mention that these
two projects are not competing with each other.

Nabucco aims to bring Caspian gas to Europe via Turkey to reduce
European dependence to Russia, while South Stream, a project
spearheaded by Russia, aims to provide an alternative route to the
Ukrainian route, which has proven to be problematic in the past,"
Hurriyet reads.