TURKEY, A GLOBAL ACTOR, INCREASES CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EU

Travelling to the USA with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and an accompanying delegation in order to hold meetings within the framework of the 64th Session of the General Assembly of the UN, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis gave a conference titled "A Win-Win relation: Turkey and EU" at the Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

Bagis said one of the most important peace projects in history, the EU, would not be complete until the accession of Turkey. Indicating that it was a win-win relationship between Turkey and the EU, Bagis said Turkey was a part of the solution to all of the significant problems that the EU faced.

Having stated that Turkey, as a global actor, has increased contributions to the EU with her "soft and hard power," Bagis said Turkey was assuming an active part in transatlantic security as a country with the second largest army after the USA.

Pointing that Turkey has participated in many large NATO operations from Korea to Kosovo, Kabul and Somali, and Turkish army has occupied the second rank in terms of casualties during peace operations under the UN flag, Bagis said Turkey has emerged in a larger areas as a "soft power" as her reliability in foreign policy increased.

Bagis stated that the positive part assumed by Turkey in that respect was known all around the world, and Turkey was the only country which was a member of G-20, NATO, OECD and Islam Conference Organization at the same time.

Explaining that Turkey has made efforts to act as mediator for the resolution of tension in neighboring areas, such as Syria-Israel, Afghanistan-Pakistan, Lebanon-Israel, Russia-Georgia and more recently Syria-Iraq, and even offered to assume a similar function between Iran and the USA, Bagis said new strategic policy of Turkey brought new dimensions to the foreign policy initiatives of the EU in critical regions such as the Middle East, Mediterranean, Central Asia and South Caucasians.

Bagis stated that Turkey put into practice her most important contribution as a "soft power" with the message she delivered to the Islam World, and told 1.5 billion Muslims around the world was closely watching Turkey's adventure in Europe.

Pointing that the EU had been designed a s political peace project from the very beginning, not emerged as a "conservative union" or a "Christian club," Bagis emphasized that what gave Europe it contemporary character was "diversity."

Bagis stated that for the first time since centuries there was an opportunity to bring that diversity together and to unite Europe around shared ideals and common goals, and said "Turkey, as a secular democracy with a Muslim majority, has the chance to frustrate the scenario of 'clash of civilizations'."

Bagis stated that Turkish economy occupied the 6th rank in Europe and 17th rank in the world, and according to OECD estimates is expected to be the third fastest growing country in the world after China and India by 2017, and said all those statistics made G-20 member Turkey a "dispensable player" in the future of the European economies.

Stating that Turkish economy was going relatively well despite the economic crisis, Bagis said Turkey was probably the only European country which was not much affected by the financial and banking system's crisis.

Pointing that Turkey was in a critical geographic location with regard to energy security as well, Bagis told Turkey in a position of a secure supply fore the increasing energy needs of Europe would be an energy center for Europe.

Stating that European societies were undergoing a serious loss of labor force as a result of aging population, Bagis said Turkey which had a dynamic population would also make contributions to the labor markets and social welfare systems in European countries.

Bagis emphasized that they were implementing the reforms for Turkish people, not for Brussels, and said the EU process was acting as a driving force in that area.

Reminding that Turkey had taken an important step to end the deadlock in Cyprus by supporting the Annan Plan, Bagis expressed his regret that such a historical opportunity was missed because the Greeks rejected the plan.

Bagis, regarding the Kurdish question, pointed that the government started a democratic initiative to ensure full and equal rights for all citizens and said that the Interior Minister Besir Atalay was talking to various sections of the society to determine the steps to be taken in that matter. Bagis said "As prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said many times the government will make efforts to complete this democratization process regardless of its political cost.".

Regarding Armenia, Bagis said "the normalization of Turk-Armenian relations will break down the status quo and create more opportunities for peace in the region."

Stating that "a visionary and brave leadership require staking risks," Bagis said the government had been doing that for 7 years, had taken And would continue to take audacious steps in sensitive matters such as Cyprus, Kurdish question and Armenia.

Bagis stated that Turkey's accession to the EU was a strategic matter and expressed his regrets that some European leaders lacked that vision and courage and focused on short term political gains. "If Turkey and the EU do not integrate, we will lose in the long term," said Bagis.

Source: AA

TURKEY, A GLOBAL ACTOR, INCREASES CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EU

LATEST