GUL: TURKEY TO REFORM FURTHER DESPITE NEGATIVE EU ‘CLIMATE’
The New Anatolian, Turkey
Feb 26 2007
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Saturday that the EU has
some problems and those problems should not be seen as permanent,
stating that commitment of Turkey to the full membership process is
not just rhetorical.
Gul, in an interview with "Euobserver.com," stated that Ankara will
continue reforms even if the "climate" in the EU towards Ankara’s
membership bid is currently not optimal.
"We made an assessment: The EU has some problems and these are not
permanent. There will be a better climate, and by that time, we will
already be in a different situation. We will use this time and make
progress. Our commitment to the full process is not just rhetorical,"
Gul said.
Underlining that Ankara will nevertheless continue to work to meet EU
standards, Gul said, "Negotiations are still going on, even if some
chapters have been frozen. The German presidency has asked for our
negotiating position on three other chapters without any benchmarks:
economy and market policy, statistics and financial control. We have
not slowed down our speed."
Gul also stated that EU shuold not underestimate the strategic clout
Turkey could offer to the bloc in the Middle East and Central Asia
in terms of security and energy supplies.
"The question is this: is the EU paying enough attention to its
future? Who is planning where the EU will be 30, 50 years from now?
Is the EU going to play an important role in world affairs? Is the EU
going to have a say in security issues or energy transport?" Gul said.
Last December 2006, EU leaders decided to temporarily suspend eight of
Turkey’s 35 accession negotiation chapters due to Ankara’s decision
not to open up its ports to trade from Greek Cyprus – seen by Gul as
an attempt by some EU member countries to "slow down" the speed of
accession negotiations with Ankara.
Meanwhile, Gul criticized French deputies as well as American
politicians who want to pass a bill condemning the Armenian genocide
in the US Congress.
Defining the events in 1915 as tragedy, Gul said, "Our offer is this:
if you are really so interested in this issue, why don’t we have a
committee composed of historians, we asked them – we open our archives
and let them study. But the Armenians are not forthcoming.
The same offer is valid for the American congressmen and the French."