Turkey can be EU’s growth engine

Turkey offers the EU more than just security, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on the eve of his UK visit and the EU minister adds: ‘Today’s Turkey is much better than yesterday’s.’

President Abdullah Gul said Turkey could offer the EU more than security assistance with its growing energy resources, population and dynamism, in an interview in Ankara with the British Sunday Telegraph newspaper released on Nov. 19.

“Some of us are in Asia, some in Europe. We are at the very center of both sides,” Gul said. “Turkey is a natural part of Europe,” he said. “Being a member of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights; being one of the oldest members of NATO, as well as being part of European culture and art - this is a natural path Turkey is flowing along,” Gul said.

“People who think in a narrow scope and who lack strategic perspective consider Turkey’s EU membership a burden,” he said. “But those who can think 30 years, 60 years ahead and who can think about the changing trends in the economy and the changing centers of power, can understand how much strength Turkey could bring to the existing strength of Europe,” Gul said.

“In the past it was only considered from the perspective of security, Turkey being a strong and old member of NATO,” he said. “But now, consider the potential that Turkey has: Turkey’s position, her assets, the value she can add in terms of energy resources, her population, the dynamism she can bring into Europe and also the growth that she can bring, with Turkey being the engine of this growth.”

Gül said there was no longer a place for authoritarian regimes in the Mediterranean region.
“Iran is a very important country in the region, with its potential, its history and its culture,” Gul said. “The situation in a way is turning into another era of the Cold War. We are trying to eliminate the lack of trust or confidence between Iran and the Western world, trying to build confidence and acting like a catalyst, for example concerning the nuclear issue,” Gul said.


/Hurriyet Daily News/