Turkish Forum

Tag: Turkey – EU

  • Bulgaria: Bulgarian Nationalist Party Claims Turkey Opposes EU Integration

    Bulgaria: Bulgarian Nationalist Party Claims Turkey Opposes EU Integration

    Turkey has no intention to become a member of the European Union (EU), according to Krasimir Karackachanov, leader of Bulgaria’s nationalist VMRO party.

    VMRO leader Krasimir Karakachanov has insisted that Turkey does not intend to become an EU member state. Photo by darik news
    VMRO leader Krasimir Karakachanov has insisted that Turkey does not intend to become an EU member state. Photo by darik news

    In his words, the country opposes European integration because “this entails granting rights to the Kurdish minority, giving up control of the press and the islamization of society”.

    “Turkey has chosen the way of Islam and that is a fact- the headscarves, their religious approach to problems, etc. “, VMRO leader says, emphasizing on what he describes as Turkey’s marked foreign policy orientation towards the East over the past years.

    “Many experts have confirmed that Turkey is pursuing a neo-osmanism policy. This does not mean conquest; it means maintaining an economic and cultural footprint in the territories of the former Ottoman Empire. This is a very clear indication of Turkey’s orientation, which is not towards EU integration”, Karakachanov has said.

    He has also stressed VMRO’s dissatisfaction with the yet unresolved issue of compensations that Turkey owes to the descendants of the Bulgarian refugees from Eastern Thrace.

    “Not a single government has raised the question in Bulgaria-Turkey relations”, according to Karakachanov.

    Krasimir Karakachanov has been endorsed to run for President in the upcoming October elections by VMRO’s unit in Sofia.

    According to some estimates, Turkey owes a compensation of some USD 10 B to the descendants of the Bulgarians, who left their estates in Eastern Thrace as well as in Asia Minor in 1913-1920. These include over two million decares of agricultural land, homes, and other property.

    Turkey’s EU accession has been a contentious issue in Bulgaria, with nationalist parties Ataka and VMRO acting as firm opponents.

    After a visit of Turkish PM Erdogan to Sofia in early October, at which Bulgarian PM Borisov declared principled support fro Turkey’s EU accession, the nationalists from Ataka – who are actually at odds with VMRO, a more marginal nationalist formation – showed up in Parliament with special T-shirts saying “No to Turkey in the EU”, and warned that the issue could cause problems between them and GERB.

    The Bulgarian Parliament, however, rejected calls by VMRO and Ataka to put Turkey’s bid to join the EU to a referendum.

    via Bulgaria: Bulgarian Nationalist Party Claims Turkey Opposes EU Integration – Novinite.com – Sofia News Agency.

  • Daimler’s CEO Dieter Zetsche wants Turkey’s “tiger economy” in EU

    Daimler’s CEO Dieter Zetsche wants Turkey’s “tiger economy” in EU

    Submitted by Armen Hareyan on Tue, 07/05/2011 – 05:24

    dieter zetscheDieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars advocated for Turkey’s EU accession and questioned why the Europeans “are not taking a tiger economy,” which now is at the door and wants to join EU.

    Zetsche, who was born in Turkey’s largest city Istanbul, spoke to German-language Bild am Sonntag saying he cannot understand the obstacles that prevent this strong economy, full of young work-force, to join the European Union. His interview was published on Sunday.

    Daimler’s chairman built a case for Turkey’s EU accession by pointing to his company’s well-performing facilities in the country. “We have exemplary production facilities in Turkey. The country is offering an opportunity for very high growth. Rather than introducing new obstacles before it, we should open the EU’s door wide open for Turkey so that it does not give up on us one day,” he said.

    In general, Daimler AG is in attack mode in Asia. Building a joint venture with its Chinese partner Beijing Benz Automotive Co Ltd, Daimler is now able to build a combined 80,000 C-Class and E-Class Mercedes sedans annually. Daimler and its Chinese partner last week signed a framework agreement investing 2.88 billion dollars to produce new models and engines locally in China. The company will also establish a R&D center in the country

    Dieter Zetsche told China Daily that as early as 2020, at least one in five premium compact cars is expected to be sold in China.

    Image source: Dieter Zetsche – Wikipedia

    via Daimler’s CEO Dieter Zetsche wants Turkey’s “tiger economy” in EU.

  • Turkeys Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan poised win elections

    Turkeys Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan poised win elections

    Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan poised to win the elections.

    Parliamentary elections in Turkey are scheduled for June 12. Ruling Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan AK party is expected to win more than 50 % of the votes.

    Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s has strengthened his emerging role as a very successful leader in the world.

    Turkey’s economy is one of the fastest growing economy in the world

    On the month of May Turkish exports has a record increase of 21.73 % to to 11. 82 billion dollar .

    Exports in first five months of 2011 increase 20.38% to 54.419 billion dollars dollar .

    Turkey exports , textiles , metals, Chrome ore, iron , steel, chemical products, television sets, textile raw materials, nonferrous metals, mineral products, processed, automotive parts, food products white goods and automobiles.

    President of Albanian_Minerals in New York , Sahit_Muja said “PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan is one of the best leader in the world”.

    Sahit_Muja said “Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government is pursuing a strategy intertwining political influence with economic might in the developing world, particularly in Balkans, Islamic countries, former Soviet Union and extending in recent years across EU, Russia, India, China and Africa.

    Turkey is the largest investor in Albania_, Kosovo,Bosnia, Kurdistan, Libia, Kazakistan, Azerbizhan, Turkistan, Bulgaria Romania, Afganistan, Iraq, Qatar, and Algeria”.

    Sahit_Muja said “EU and U.S., should never forget that those who have closer economic relations with Turkey will prove to be the profit-makers in this region.

    Turkey remains committed to joining the EU. It is time for the Europe to overcome their fear of Islam.

    Is time for EU to stop turning Turkish, EU membership into a cultural battleground.

    EU need’s Turkey.

    * Created by Mehmet Muja

    via WSJ: Turkeys Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan poised win elections.

  • Austria to hold referendum on Turkey’s EU membership

    Austria to hold referendum on Turkey’s EU membership

    VIENNA, Austria — A national referendum will be held on Turkey’s EU accession, regardless of the outcome of negotiations between Brussels and Ankara, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann announced on Tuesday (May 3rd) after meeting with Turkish President Abdullah Gul in Vienna. Gul stressed that Turkey’s membership could provide commercial benefits to bloc members, including Austria. At a Turkish-Austrian business forum, he stressed alternative energy resources. “Turkey is one of the most successful countries in terms of hydroelectric power plants … and one of the world’s most important countries in terms of pipelines,” Gul said.

    Separately Tuesday, a group of 57 NGOs submitted a declaration to the European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg calling for an end to the stalemate in Turkey’s EU accession. Haluk Kabaalioglu, chairman of the Economic Development Foundation, assured EP members that Turkey is still interested in joining the EU. “It is time to indicate that the EU is also interested in Turkey,” he added. (Haber Turk, Anadolu news agency, Hurriyet, Anadolu news agency, Zaman

    via Austria to hold referendum on Turkey’s EU membership (SETimes.com).

  • Austrian president: ‘Turkey’s EU bid must continue’

    Austrian president: ‘Turkey’s EU bid must continue’

    On the eve of Turkish President Abdullah Gül’s visit to Vienna, Austrian President Heinz Fischer has said his country favors the continuation of the EU membership process for Turkey, with an increased focus on substantive issues.

    austria

    He also reiterated the Austrian government’s position that accession negotiations are open-ended, meaning that they will not automatically lead to membership.

    “It is important that negotiations with Turkey continue. Nobody denies that the process will be a long and difficult one. Austria fully endorsed the launch of official membership talks with Turkey. The only chapter that has been closed in the course of negotiations happened during our presidency,” Fischer said in an exclusive interview with Today’s Zaman.

    Fischer acknowledged that the 27-nation bloc is undergoing very difficult times due to the economic crisis and that this would increase skepticism for enlargement in public opinion. “It is a question of whether the EU is ready to accept a large country like Turkey with a population of 70 million,” he said, stressing there are other special issues, such as the Cyprus problem, that remain to be solved. The Austrian president declined to give an estimate of when Turkey could become a full member of the EU.

    The Austrian president also rejected charges of xenophobia and Islamophobia, saying, “We do not tolerate any kind of discrimination, including xenophobia.” He underlined that freedom of religion was protected under the current constitution. “I would say this: Freedom of religion not only applies to churches in this country but also covers Islam as well. An environment of respect must be established for the people from different religions or regions,” he explained.

    Touching upon the increased economic cooperation between the two countries, Fischer said with Austria was the largest contributor of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Turkey in 2010, which amounted to 1 billion euros from Austrian companies.(YES JUST FROM AUSTRIA)He praised the hundreds of Turkish businesses operating in Austria. “I think the increased economic cooperation will help promote the general outlook of our bilateral ties,” he underlined.

    Both presidents are expected to cover a range of issues from political dialogue to economic cooperation. More than 200 million Turks live in Austria, and their integration is expected to be one of the topics of discussion between the two presidents. Gül would become the first Turkish president to visit Austria since former President Süleyman Demirel paid a visit in 1998. The Austrian president visited Turkey in 2008. Gül’s reciprocal visit starts today and ends on May 4.

    Turkish president: Turks may say ‘no’ to the EU

    In an interview with leading Austrian dailies on the eve of his visit, Turkish President Abdullah Gül has said the Turkish people may say “no” to EU membership, just as the Norwegians did.

    In a Der Standard interview published on April 29, Gül said, “Turkish nationals living in Austria have to speak the two languages fluently.” Responding to another question, Gül said millions of Muslims in Europe could not be, and should not be, disregarded. “Such a thing will mean religious discrimination. It is not important whether a person is Muslim, Christian or Jewish. It is important that this person supports the fundamental principles of democracy and human rights,” he stated.

    As for EU prospects for Turkey, Gül said: “Austrian citizens may have a different point of view, one not sympathetic to Turkey. What we should do is to present Turkey in a better way in Austria. We should also explain to them that Turkey will not be a burden on Austria when it becomes an EU member. On the contrary, this will be advantageous for both parties.”

    In another interview published on the same day by Austria’s Die Presse, Gül said both countries were inheritors of important states and empires. “I believe that we will be able to deepen economic and political relations during the visit. Around 200,000 Turkish nationals are living in Austria. Around 100,000 of them are Austrian nationals. They are a part of Austrian society and very important for Turkish-Austrian relations,” he said.

    “The Austrian constitution recognizes the religion of Islam. This is a good starting point. Austria is the inheritor of an empire consisting of several pieces. However, we see that there are concerning developments in all of Europe, such as xenophobia, extremism and Islamophobia. They contradict the spirit of Europe as Europe is the motherland of human rights. We have seen in the past those who are different are isolated in Europe,” he said.

    Zaman

  • The Myths about Turkey

    The Myths about Turkey

    Apr 1st, 2011 | By Serkan Bulut

    Myth I: Tur­key will proof to be a Tro­jan horse !

    Plaatje Serkan Turkey EU Torjan HorseThe fam­ous story of the Greeks’ cap­ture of the city of Troy using the decoy of a wooden horse in which sol­diers were hid­den is a well-known one. It cre­ates a power­ful his­tor­ical image in mind and this is why it is pop­u­lar when it comes to describ­ing the Turk­ish bid to the EU.

    Tur­key: Tro­jan horse of the Islam?

    There are two aspects of this myth. On the one side are the people who believe that Tur­key will be the Tro­jan Horse of the Islam in Europe and that through Turk­ish EU mem­ber­ship, Europe will be Islam­ized, mean­ing that Europe will become a “Muslim” con­tin­ent. This group envi­sions a reli­gious dom­in­a­tion of Europe by Turks; a pro­cess which will turn Europe into Eura­bia. Through con­ver­sion and high birthrates this groups believes that Muslims will finally over­run Europe. Of course this argu­ment has its con­nec­tions with argu­ments against Muslim immig­rants of dif­fer­ent ori­gins, other than Turk­ish, as well. Artic­u­lat­ing the already “high” num­ber of Muslim immig­rants in Europe, adding the incom­ing 70+ mil­lion Turk­ish Muslims, this argu­ment paints a dooms­day scen­ario for sec­u­lar Europe. From this per­spect­ive Tur­key is not or “no longer” a sec­u­lar coun­try and its “Islamic” nature is the dag­ger that aims at the heart of Europe. Just like in any other myth this claim lacks a solid base of evid­ence; mere rehash­ing of his­tor­ical fears and pro­duc­tion of a new gen­er­a­tion of phobias.

    I’m not say­ing that integ­ra­tion of a coun­try with a large pop­u­la­tion will be a prob­lem free pro­cess but the prob­lems will not be of a reli­gious nature. Turks have always had ambi­tions for the future. Whether real­istic or unreal­istic, rational or irra­tional they have always thought that they are destined to do great things. How­ever, a reli­gious dom­in­a­tion of Europe is not part of the Turk­ish agenda. This goes espe­cially when it con­cerns the youth.

    Tur­key: Tro­jan Horse of the U.S.?

    The other aspect of this myth is the one that sees Tur­key as a Tro­jan horse of the US in the EU. This group is skep­tical of Eng­lish policies as well and tends to see Tur­key as a second Eng­land in the EU. There are sev­eral assump­tions behind such a the­ory that cre­ates this myth and as these assump­tions are flawed: the whole the­ory is misguided.

    First of all, claim­ing that Tur­key will be an agent of the US within the EU implies that the EU and the US are exper­i­en­cing sig­ni­fic­ant clashes of interest and that Tur­key will join Eng­land in under­min­ing the EU against the US. When was the last biggest clash of interest/policy between the EU and the US since the fall of Soviet Union? It was the war in Iraq and there was no sig­ni­fic­ant dif­fer­ence between the Franco-German atti­tude towards the war and Amer­ican policies, and the Turk­ish. In fact, Turk­ish oppos­i­tion to the war severely dam­aged the rela­tions with the US which took years to nor­mal­ize, while many European states con­trib­uted to the war efforts.

    Secondly, Eng­lish and Turk­ish ideas about integ­ra­tion and deep­en­ing of the Union are com­pletely dif­fer­ent. Bri­tain prefers to limit its integ­ra­tion to con­tin­ental Europe. Tur­key, how­ever, in fact des­per­ately wants to integ­rate itself into Europe and turn itself and the EU as a viable actor in global polit­ics and a counter-balance of the US, espe­cially in the Middle East.

    All in all, the argu­ment that Tur­key will be the Tro­jan horse of the US in the EU is prob­lem­atic from the very assump­tions it lays its found­a­tion on. It assumes a ten­sion between the two sides of the Atlantic which is neither inher­ent nor char­ac­ter­istic of this rela­tion­ship. And it falls into the trap of com­par­ing Bri­tain which holds a “spe­cial” rela­tion­ship with the US to Tur­key, a coun­try that strives to find a new refined role in its regional polit­ics and sees the EU as an import­ant plat­form to real­ize that wish.

    via The Myths about Turkey: Part I – European Student Think Tank.