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EU CAN HELP TURKEY TO TRANSFORM: FRENCH PRESIDENT HOLLANDE
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Jan 27 2014
ANKARA
French President Francois Hollande held talks with President Abdullah
Gul in Ankara Jan 27. Hollande was the first French head of state to
make a formal trip to Turkey in 22 years after Francois Mitterrand. AA
photo
French President Francois Hollande expressed his belief that the EU
can help Turkey's transformation thanks to its ongoing accession
process, and underlined that France will "not be in a position to
stop the negotiation process," during a first official visit from a
French head of state to Turkey since 1992.
His remarks therefore seemed to give the green light for the removal
of France's blockage of four negotiation chapters.
"The opening of new chapters would support Turkey, as some of the
negotiation chapters are related to topics - the separation of powers,
fundamental rights, the rule of law and the judiciary - that are
also connected to the current debate in Turkey's domestic politics,"
Hollande said on Jan. 27, speaking at a joint press conference with
Turkish President Abdullah Gul.
"The opening of new chapters would help Turkey progress," he added.
Hollande arrived in Ankara early on Monday with a large delegation
composed of ministers, businessmen and journalists. He held talks
with Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and was also expected to
meet with Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıcdaroglu
before moving to Istanbul, where he will head a business forum and
deliver a speech at Galatasaray University.
The French leader said his country supported the continuation of
Turkey's EU negotiation process, but added that it would make a final
decision on Turkey's membership with a referendum at the end of the
process. "There is no need to unnecessarily agitate using some fears,"
Hollande said, in an indirect reference to skepticism in his country
about Turkey's full membership to the EU. "Fourteen chapters out of
35 have been opened since 2004. Which means that we should continue
the negotiations process. At the end of the day, the final decision
will be given by the French people," he said, referring to the future
referendum that will take place on Turkey's membership.
For his part, President Gul asked Hollande not to block Turkey's
EU candidacy.
"We welcome the positive stance that Hollande has adopted over
the past few years. But the negotiation process does not mean full
membership. The negotiation process is an adaptation process. We hope
a political blockage will not take place," he said.
"We are not in a rush for membership. But we are in rush for the
continuation of talks without political or other sorts of blockages. I
am not only referring to France, but all countries," Gul added.
Asked about the recent ongoing political turmoil in Turkey, he said
there were many debates in the country, "as Turkey is a democratic
country with an open society."
"There is no question about political stability in Turkey ... Debates
may be tough from time to time, but in a mature way. But all this
neither [negatively] affects Turkey's political stability nor its
economy," Gul said.
Describing Hollande's visit to Turkey as "an opportunity," Gul said
"both countries should benefit from it."
Strategic agreements signed
Turkey and France signed a strategic cooperation agreement during
Hollande's state visit to Ankara, along with many other agreements,
including on nuclear energy and infrastructure projects. President
Hollande underscored economic opportunities in nuclear and renewable
energy, agriculture, and transportation.
"In our talks with the [French] president we identified a new target
of 20 billion Euros for our bilateral trade volume," Gul said, adding
that the agreements signed today would help bolster already strong
economic and trade ties between the two allies.
Touching on the Syrian crisis, Hollande stressed the issue of
cooperation to work against extremist groups in Syria, and underlined
Turkey and France's responsibilities in the Mediterranean region.
Armenian genocide on the table
The two presidents also exchanged views on a potential attempt to
ban denial that the 1915 massacres of Ottoman Armenians constituted
genocide through a legal proposal at the French Parliament. President
Gul said they discussed the issue in a very sincere and open way and
emphasized the need for a joint study of the 1915 events by historians
and with participation of third parties.
"Just like in the French-Algerian case. We cannot deal with this
issue on our own. There is need for a joint work," Gul stressed,
repeating Turkey's call for the establishment of a joint committee.
Recalling that freedom of speech was an essential part of European
values, he also said both sides of the argument should be able to
express their views in France. "We respect the verdict of the French
Constitutional Council on this issue," Gul said.
Indirectly calling on Armenia and the Armenian diaspora to leave
the pains of the past behind and not to transfer them through the
generations, Gul gave the friendship between Turkey and Australia-New
Zealand after the Dardanelles War as an example. "We should not
transfer these pains to our children. Instead we should be able to
create new friendships between our children," he said.
Hollande also touched on the need for "intense joint work" on the
issue on the eve of the centennial anniversary of the 1915 events.
French president did not give a sign of renewing attempts to ban the
denial of the genocide, but underlined that they would be "whatever
the laws stipulated," referring France's recognition of the mass
killings of Armenians as genocide in 2000.
The two presidents also reviewed the developments in Syria and the
ongoing Geneva 2 conference in detail. Both Gul and Hollande stressed
that the conference should bring about a transitional government with
full executive power, in a way not to leave gray areas that could leave
"unwanted entities" within Syria.
January/27/2014
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Jan 27 2014
ANKARA
French President Francois Hollande held talks with President Abdullah
Gul in Ankara Jan 27. Hollande was the first French head of state to
make a formal trip to Turkey in 22 years after Francois Mitterrand. AA
photo
French President Francois Hollande expressed his belief that the EU
can help Turkey's transformation thanks to its ongoing accession
process, and underlined that France will "not be in a position to
stop the negotiation process," during a first official visit from a
French head of state to Turkey since 1992.
His remarks therefore seemed to give the green light for the removal
of France's blockage of four negotiation chapters.
"The opening of new chapters would support Turkey, as some of the
negotiation chapters are related to topics - the separation of powers,
fundamental rights, the rule of law and the judiciary - that are
also connected to the current debate in Turkey's domestic politics,"
Hollande said on Jan. 27, speaking at a joint press conference with
Turkish President Abdullah Gul.
"The opening of new chapters would help Turkey progress," he added.
Hollande arrived in Ankara early on Monday with a large delegation
composed of ministers, businessmen and journalists. He held talks
with Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and was also expected to
meet with Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıcdaroglu
before moving to Istanbul, where he will head a business forum and
deliver a speech at Galatasaray University.
The French leader said his country supported the continuation of
Turkey's EU negotiation process, but added that it would make a final
decision on Turkey's membership with a referendum at the end of the
process. "There is no need to unnecessarily agitate using some fears,"
Hollande said, in an indirect reference to skepticism in his country
about Turkey's full membership to the EU. "Fourteen chapters out of
35 have been opened since 2004. Which means that we should continue
the negotiations process. At the end of the day, the final decision
will be given by the French people," he said, referring to the future
referendum that will take place on Turkey's membership.
For his part, President Gul asked Hollande not to block Turkey's
EU candidacy.
"We welcome the positive stance that Hollande has adopted over
the past few years. But the negotiation process does not mean full
membership. The negotiation process is an adaptation process. We hope
a political blockage will not take place," he said.
"We are not in a rush for membership. But we are in rush for the
continuation of talks without political or other sorts of blockages. I
am not only referring to France, but all countries," Gul added.
Asked about the recent ongoing political turmoil in Turkey, he said
there were many debates in the country, "as Turkey is a democratic
country with an open society."
"There is no question about political stability in Turkey ... Debates
may be tough from time to time, but in a mature way. But all this
neither [negatively] affects Turkey's political stability nor its
economy," Gul said.
Describing Hollande's visit to Turkey as "an opportunity," Gul said
"both countries should benefit from it."
Strategic agreements signed
Turkey and France signed a strategic cooperation agreement during
Hollande's state visit to Ankara, along with many other agreements,
including on nuclear energy and infrastructure projects. President
Hollande underscored economic opportunities in nuclear and renewable
energy, agriculture, and transportation.
"In our talks with the [French] president we identified a new target
of 20 billion Euros for our bilateral trade volume," Gul said, adding
that the agreements signed today would help bolster already strong
economic and trade ties between the two allies.
Touching on the Syrian crisis, Hollande stressed the issue of
cooperation to work against extremist groups in Syria, and underlined
Turkey and France's responsibilities in the Mediterranean region.
Armenian genocide on the table
The two presidents also exchanged views on a potential attempt to
ban denial that the 1915 massacres of Ottoman Armenians constituted
genocide through a legal proposal at the French Parliament. President
Gul said they discussed the issue in a very sincere and open way and
emphasized the need for a joint study of the 1915 events by historians
and with participation of third parties.
"Just like in the French-Algerian case. We cannot deal with this
issue on our own. There is need for a joint work," Gul stressed,
repeating Turkey's call for the establishment of a joint committee.
Recalling that freedom of speech was an essential part of European
values, he also said both sides of the argument should be able to
express their views in France. "We respect the verdict of the French
Constitutional Council on this issue," Gul said.
Indirectly calling on Armenia and the Armenian diaspora to leave
the pains of the past behind and not to transfer them through the
generations, Gul gave the friendship between Turkey and Australia-New
Zealand after the Dardanelles War as an example. "We should not
transfer these pains to our children. Instead we should be able to
create new friendships between our children," he said.
Hollande also touched on the need for "intense joint work" on the
issue on the eve of the centennial anniversary of the 1915 events.
French president did not give a sign of renewing attempts to ban the
denial of the genocide, but underlined that they would be "whatever
the laws stipulated," referring France's recognition of the mass
killings of Armenians as genocide in 2000.
The two presidents also reviewed the developments in Syria and the
ongoing Geneva 2 conference in detail. Both Gul and Hollande stressed
that the conference should bring about a transitional government with
full executive power, in a way not to leave gray areas that could leave
"unwanted entities" within Syria.
January/27/2014