All Discussions Tagged 'is' - The 4 Freedoms Library2024-03-28T11:00:12Zhttp://4freedoms.com/group/turkey/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=is&feed=yes&xn_auth=noTurkey says EU membership is top prioritytag:4freedoms.com,2010-07-20:3766518:Topic:259062010-07-20T17:44:22.000ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<div class="ft-story-header"><h1>Turkey says EU membership is top priority</h1>
<p>By Roula Khalaf and David Gardner</p>
<p>Published: July 8 2010 19:59 | Last updated: July 8 2010 19:59</p>
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<div class="ft-story-body"><div class="clearfix" id="floating-target"><p>Turkey’s foreign minister on Thursday dismissed concerns that his country was moving away from the west as “nonsense,” insisting that Ankara’s main strategic objective was<br></br> to join the European Union.…</p>
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<div class="ft-story-header"><h1>Turkey says EU membership is top priority</h1>
<p>By Roula Khalaf and David Gardner</p>
<p>Published: July 8 2010 19:59 | Last updated: July 8 2010 19:59</p>
</div>
<div class="ft-story-body"><div class="clearfix" id="floating-target"><p>Turkey’s foreign minister on Thursday dismissed concerns that his country was moving away from the west as “nonsense,” insisting that Ankara’s main strategic objective was<br/>
to join the European Union.</p>
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<p>The comments from Ahmet Davutoglu came as Barack Obama, US president, warned that it was “natural” for Turkey to look for alliances elsewhere if it was not made<br/>
to feel part of Europe.</p>
<div id="floating-con"><div class="nav-collection clearfix"><h3 class="section"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px;">Mr Davutoglu told the Financial Times that the deterioration of relations with Israel after the attack on a Turkish-backed aid flotilla in May</span></h3>
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<p>should not be seen as “a question of a country shifting axis or not”. He<br/>
added: “Our integration process into the EU is the most strategic<br/>
objective of Turkey. Nobody can blame Turkey for the delay in this<br/>
process.”</p>
<p>Ankara, he said, was not looking to escalate the crisis with Israel either, but it was demanding accountability for an Israeli assault in international waters that left nine Turks dead.</p>
<p>He made clear relations with Israel would not improve without an independent and international investigation into the raid. Israel has only conceded<br/>
an internal inquiry led by an Israeli judge.</p>
<p>“Somebody cannot be the accused, the prosecutor and the judge at the same time,” said Mr Davutoglu.</p>
<p>“The Turkish-Israel relation is at a very critical stage, and what will be happening in the coming weeks and months will be based on the Israel attitude . . . There will be no normalisation;<br/>
definitely our relations will be reviewed by us, from all perspectives.”</p>
<p>Concerns over the foreign policy direction of the neo-Islamist government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been raised at home and abroad, as Ankara’s<br/>
negotiations with the EU have stalled. The government has built closer<br/>
ties with Syria, Iraq and Iran, while relations with Israel have reached<br/>
a low point.</p>
<p>The US was particularly frustrated by a deal that Turkey and Brazil negotiated in Tehran last month to exchange nuclear fuel.</p>
<p>Although the agreement was based on proposals that Washington itself had promoted, the Obama administration saw it as an attempt to derail a United Nations resolution that was set to impose new<br/>
sanctions on Iran. Turkey and Brazil were the only Security Council<br/>
members to vote against the resolution.</p>
<p>Mr Obama hinted in an interview with Italy’s Corriere della Sera that European powers’ resistance to Turkey’s EU membership was to blame for the perceived<br/>
shift in Ankara’s foreign policy.</p>
<p>Stressing Turkey’s importance as a democracy with an expanding economy, he said it was a “critically important model for other Muslim countries in the region”.</p>
<p>But Mr Davutoglu sought to offer reassurance, saying that Turkey was simply using western values of engagement and soft power to further a goal of<br/>
bringing stability to its wider neighbourhood.</p>
<p>He said that Turkey’s foreign policy should be seen as an asset, especially at a time when the risk of renewed conflict in the Middle East was growing.</p>
<p>“Unfortunately, I am very, very concerned about the coming months in our region,” he said, citing the absence of a credible diplomatic process in Iran and<br/>
the Arab-Israeli conflict, the fragility of Lebanon’s politics, and the<br/>
lack of a new government in Iraq.</p>
<p>“These are all very fragile [situations],” he said. “Now we have to act very responsibly, all together.”</p>
<p>Turkey, he added, had taken steps to address its dispute with Israel, pointing to the talks he held last week with an Israeli cabinet minister in Brussels.</p>
<p>But he described this as a “missed opportunity” because the occurrence of the supposedly secret meeting was immediately leaked to the media by Israel.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0652cfd2-8ab7-11df-8e17-00144feab49a.html">http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0652cfd2-8ab7-11df-8e17-00144feab49a.html</a></p>
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