Monday, 2 November 2009
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Monday Turkey's future lied in full membership of the European Union (EU).
Speaking in a conference in Istanbul on "Leadership for Sustainable Success", Schroeder said that it is Turkey's right to expect the EU to be loyal to the principle of "pacta sunt servanda".
Efforts must be made to inform the Turkish public about the EU and to convince those who are actually against Turkish membership in the EU, Schroeder stressed.
In a relatively short period of time, Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan convinced EU leaders about the seriousness of Turkish efforts to join the EU, steps to promote reforms and to fulfill the membership criteria, Schroeder said.
Turkey's changing direction from the EU would be wrong for the Turkish people and Turkey itself, Schroeder also said.
Touching on the global financial crisis, Schroeder said that describing the global crisis as a tsunami was correct. The impact of a tsunami can not be felt in the first wave. Tsunami's real impact is seen once the first wave goes back, Schroeder said.
Many nations have reached stability thanks to the experiences of their politicians and economists, Schroeder said. Nonetheless, certain efforts made nationally must be repeated on a global scale, Schroeder said.
We can not accept the division of the world into two camps. We should not permit the division of our world into one camp of those who are reaping the fruits of globalization and another camp that is suffering due to globalization, Schroeder added.
