TURKEY IS DIFFERENT COMPARED TO 8 YEARS AGO: MINISTER
Asia Pulse
March 24, 2010 Wednesday 7:55 PM EST
The Turkish state minister for economy said on Tuesday that Turkey
had become a different country when compared with eight years ago.
Turkey’s State Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said that
Turkey, which had gone into a rapid political, social and economic
transformation process in 2002, had turned into a different country
today.
"Turkey, which used to get foreign assistance since 2004, has now
started to extend assistance between US$600 million and US$1 billion
very year," Babacan said during a meeting entitled "Rising Turkey"
in Brussels, Belgium.
The European Policy Center and Confederation of Businessmen and
Industrialists of Turkey (TUSKON) organized the meeting.
"Turkey has also assumed an active role as a mediator in all serious
crisis, and increased its participation and efficiency in many
international platforms, particularly the United Nations (UN),"
Babacan said.
Babacan said that Turkey had exerted efforts for democracy and
stability in many problematic countries, particularly Iraq and
Afghanistan.
The minister said Turkey had proved its economic maturity with the
global crisis, and it was the only country among the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members which did
not allocate Treasury resources for banks.
International organizations had forecast that Turkey would be the
highest growing country in Europe in 2010, Babacan said.
Babacan projected that the global economy was recovering but risks
were really high.
The Turkish minister said Turkey had made public its strategy of way
out of the crisis, and got the support of investors.
Rating organizations, therefore, had raised Turkey’s rating, he
also said.
During the meeting, Anna Maria Corazza Bildt, a member of the European
Parliament who is also the spouse of Swedish Foreign Minister Carl
Bildt, expressed sorrow over decision of the Swedish Parliament
acknowledging Armenian theses regarding the incidents of 1915.
Bildt said it was not the duty of politicians to write history of
Turkey, and congratulated Turkey on its recent initiatives with
Armenia.
Anna Maria Corazza Bildt also said what was important was a compromise
between Turkey and Armenia.
Then, Babacan said the protocols signed by Turkey and Armenia foresaw
establishment of a joint history committee to deal with the incidents
of 1915, comprised of international scholars.
"We are ready to face the facts to be revealed by the committee, and
Turkey is sincere and ready to normalize its relations with Armenia,"
he said.
However, the problem caused by occupation of 20 per cent of Azerbaijani
territories should be solved, he also said.
Babacan said problems between Turkey and Armenia should be solved in
a big package including Azerbaijan.
The Minsk Group should involve in the process, otherwise peace and
stability in the Caucasus could be harmed, he said.
Babacan said decisions of third countries and parliaments were not
a good method to write history.
On the recent constitutional amendment bill, Babacan said the Turkish
government aimed to strengthen democracy and rule of law, which would
make Turkey a more predictable country for investors.
Babacan also said the bill would help Turkey fulfil a great deal of
the judicial reform the European Union (EU) expected from Turkey.