HELSINKI, Finland: The Georgian crisis has strengthened the strategic importance of Turkey both in the Caucasus and for the European Union, the bloc’s enlargement chief said Friday.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said Turkey was “engaged in very active and evidently successful diplomacy” in its neighboring regions.
Turkey has met separately with Georgian and Russian officials in an effort to promote peace between the two countries since their war in August.
It is also helping to normalize ties between Syria and the EU and is mediating talks between Israel and the Palestinians in Istanbul.
“Turkey remains a very important bridge between Europe and the Islamic world,” Rehn told reporters during a visit to Helsinki. “In other words, everything that has happened in recent weeks has only strengthened Turkey’s strategic importance from the EU’s point of view.”
EU: Georgia crisis fortifies importance of Turkey – International Herald Tribune.