euronews

ErdoÄ?an deflects reform criticism, questions EU honesty

30/01 18:17 CET

Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an, just before the Euronews launch
of broadcasting in Turkish, spoke with us on a range of topics, from
Turkey’s negotiations aimed at eventual full membership in the
European Union to Cyprus, relations with Israel, and questions on the
Kurdish minority and Armenia.

Euronews, Ali Ishan Aydin: `Accession negotiations with the EU are too
slow. Whereas Brussels criticises Turkey for delaying reforms, you
accuse some of the European leaders of obstructing Turkey. As we
speak, eight chapters [out of a total of 35 policy areas] are blocked
by the European Commission; five are blocked by France; some chapters
are blocked by the Republic of Cyprus ‘ leaving four chapters of
negotiations which can be opened. So, what do you think about the
membership talks’ future?’

Prime Minister Tayyip ErdoÄ?an: `Unfortunately, some of the EU member
states are not acting honestly. This is where a problem arises. Why am
I saying this? Because they are trying to corner Turkey with
conditions that do not exist in the acquis communautaire [the total
accumulated body of EU law]. This is really wrong. We have to bear in
mind that we leaders are mortal but that nations are not. A leader’s
negative approach towards another country would negatively affect
people’s perception in that country about the country of that leader.

0155 Euronews Nial: Are you talking about Mr Sarkozy?

0157 Erdogan: Yes. One can not easily comprehend what Mr Sarkozy does.
But no matter what they do, or what kind of obstacles they put in
front of us, we will keep walking, patiently. There is, certainly, an
end to this. That will be the moment at which ALL the EU members say
`We are not accepting Turkey.’ We will not stop until they say this.

0231 Euronews Ali: Do you think religious and cultural differences
play a role in some EU leaders’ negative approach?

0240 Erdogan: The EU should not become a Christian club. The EU should
not take part in a campaign of Islamophobia. Any country doing this
must be warned. For instance, as the prime minister of Turkey, I am a
leader who has wholeheartedly condemned anti-semitism and accepted it
as a crime against humanity. But I am sensitive, too, when it comes to
Islamophobia. Because I am a Muslim. And I can never tolerate
anti-Islamism. As a Muslim, I defend my stance for as long as I must.
No one CAN reconcile Islam with terror. And I, as a Muslim, and the
Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic, can not say `yes’ to anyone
who dares to do so.

0339 Euronews Ali: What will happen if the talks on the reunification
of Cyprus fail? What do you expect from Brussels, from the EU?

0350 Erdogan: Until now, the EU has not been honest on the Cyprus
issue, either. Sixy-five percent of the voters in northern Cyprus said
`yes’ to the United Nations’ Annan Plan. And what happened in the
south? Seventy-five percent said `no’. Who is the honest party in this
picture?: northern Cyprus. And the EU bears a great deal of
responsibility for the current deadlock over Cyprus. They made a
historical error in accepting southern Cyprus into the EU. Gerhard
Schröder sharply criticised this policy of the EU saying `northern
Cyprus was treated immorally’. Angela Merkel says `We made a mistake
by accepting southern Cyprus’. This is what they said. But now we see
that they are looking out for southern Cyprus! By the way, calling
southern Cyprus `Cyprus’ is an other political mistake. Because in the
north, there is another state, which is in conflict with the south.
And we, as Turkey, recognised this state in the north. We are
unwavering about this state. Others may speculate, but that is of no
importance for us. The EU members will be remembered for having made
this mistake. History will tell, in fact it already has.

0524 Euronews Nial: Do you expect to see Cyprus reunited in the near future?

0530 Erdogan: Southern Cyprus always avoids a direct approach. The EU
must warn southern Cyprus. It must be seen that the peace process is a
hostage.

0545 Euronews: Do you think it will take much longer to get this issue resolved?

0551 Erdogan: We are striving to resolve this issue this year. And we
want it to be resolved under the umbrella of the UN. We can even do
this including all five of the parties concerned; By this I mean
northern and southern Cyprus, Turkey, Greece and the UK. We can solve
this all together. A few days ago, Gordon Brown called me and asked
what we thought of the idea of `doing this together’. There is no
problem for us. We can come together and talk. What matters on this
issue is being fair. If we set about doing this as the guarantor
states, we have to know what the guarantees are. We hope for this
issue to be resolved this year.

0653 Euronews Ali: About the Kurdish issue: You have taken a
historical step, preparing a plan for a project to move forward with
the Kurdish issue. How do you see the process at this moment?

0711 Erdogan: This has been one of the most important items on the
agenda in recent days. But calling it a Kurdish issue will undermine,
weaken this project. This project is one of national unity and
friendship. It is not concentrated only on the Kurds. It is a
democratic initiative, and the Kurdish issue is just one of the ethnic
problems. But, unfortunately, this was misunderstood by western
society. Because if one considers this as a Kurdish issue exclusively
then one is being disrespectful to other ethnic groups which make up
Turkey and the Turkish Nation. This plan, this project, covers all of
them. We are working on other ethnic groups as well.

0808 Euronews Ali: How do you see the future of Turkey-Israel
relations? After all that has happened, do you still think Turkey can
mediate between Israel and Syria, and other Arab states?

0820 Erdogan: Israel should give some thought to what it would be like
to lose a friend like Turkey in the future. The way they recently
treated our ambassador has no place in international politics. We have
done our best for Israel-Syria relations. But now we see Binjamin
Netanyahu saying `I do not trust Erdogan, but I trust Sarkozy’. Do you
have to give a name? This is diplomatic inexperience, too. Because
when you say this¦ How can I trust you if you say you don’t trust me?
We have important ongoing agreements between us. How can these
agreements be kept going in this climate of mistrust? I think Israel
had better take another look at its relations with its neighbours if
it believes it is a world power.

0926 Euronews: In recent days the Israeli foreign ministry has accused
you of being a cause of the rising tension between your two countries.
In fact, it has accused you of anti-semitism. When you review how you
handled this incident, do you feel YOU could have handled it more
diplomatically?

0945 Erdogan: I am telling the truth¦And I will keep telling the
truth. Turkey has an age-old history as a state. When you talk to such
a state you must be careful. When innocent civilians are ruthlessly
killed, struck by phosphorus bombs, infrastructure is demolished in
bombing and people are forced to live in an open-air prison¦ we can
not see this as compatible with the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, simply human rights, and we can not close our eyes to all this
happening.

1030 Euronews: Prime Minister, the constitutional court of Armenia’s
interpretation of the Turkish-Armenian protocols aimed at normalising
mutual ties antagonised Ankara. How will this affect Turkey’s
policies?

1046 Erdogan: Well, we appear to have got off to an unhealthy start.
What are we negotiating about? What are we going to do? Armenia should
once again take this into consideration, because we fulfilled our
protocol commitments. Both sides have road maps. The process will
continue. We are fully prepared and sincere, and will proceed in the
same way as we have so far.

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