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Daily Sabah, Turkey
Jan 6 2015
President ErdoÄ?an calls EU to revise Turkey policies
SENA ALKAN
ISTANBUL
In his address to Turkish envoys from across the world, President
ErdoÄ?an said Turkey was proven correct in its appraisal of the Syrian
civil war and called for the EU to adopt a more welcoming stance
toward Turkey
President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an, in his address to envoys yesterday at
the seventh Ambassadors Conference in Ankara, called on Turkish envoys
to be aware of the black propaganda purported against Turkey by some
foreign media outlets. "You should stay strong against the yellow
journalism in those countries. You are the representatives of the
Turkish nation, you are the mission chiefs. You should never, ever
make concessions," said the president. He further said that the EU,
which Turkey has been trying to join for decades, must revise its
policies toward Turkey. "They have stalled us for a long time, they
have caused us to lose time. It is a pitiful situation that the EU
tries to give Turkey a lesson while it needs to realize the dangers
and threat [against itself]," said the president. Turkey has been
sitting at the negotiation table with the EU longer than any other
candidate. The country handed its application to Brussels in 1987 and
the accession talks began in 2005. However, negotiations hit a
stalemate in 2007 due to Ankara's position on the Cyprus issue and
opposition from Southern Cyprus, France and Germany.
President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an, in his address to envoys yesterday at
the seventh Ambassadors Conference in Ankara, called on Turkish envoys
to be aware of the black propaganda purported against Turkey by some
foreign media outlets. "You should stay strong against the yellow
journalism in those countries. You are the representatives of the
Turkish nation, you are the mission chiefs. You should never, ever
make concessions," said the president.
Targeting the policies of the EU, which Turkey has been waiting to
join as a member country for decades, the president said that the EU
must revise its policies toward Turkey.
"They have stalled us for a long time, they have caused us to lose
time. It is a pitiful situation that the EU tries to give Turkey a
lesson while it needs to realize the dangers and threat [against
itself]," said the president.
Turkey has been sitting at the negotiation table with the EU longer
than any other candidate. The country handed its application to
Brussels in 1987 and the accession talks began in 2005. However,
negotiations hit a stalemate in 2007 due to Ankara's position on the
Cyprus issue, in which Turkey does not recognize Southern Cyprus,
which is an EU member country and has strongly opposed Turkey's EU
membership with the French and German government. To be able to
classify as an EU member country, Ankara has to successfully finalize
negotiations with the EU in 25 policy chapters that are required to
meet EU standards. So far, only 14 chapters have been opened whereas
17 remain blocked and another four are yet to be discussed. In the
last three years, only one chapter has been opened. Touching on the
increasing Islamophobia, racism and discrimination in some EU
countries, especially in Germany, ErdoÄ?an claimed that activities
targeting Muslims in those countries are at a point that is impossible
to hide.
On the Syrian civil war, which started in 2011 and displaced millions
of Syrians, the Turkish president highlighted that the Islamic State
of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) threat in the region stems from the Bashar
Assad regime and the discriminative policies by the then-Iraqi
government. Referring to the anti-ISIS coalition, led by the U.S. to
eliminate the ISIS threat in the region, ErdoÄ?an said that it is not
possible to end ISIS only through air operations and that boots on the
ground is a must.
The president said that in a conversation with U.S. President Barack
Obama, he had asked him, "Why is Kobani of such strategic importance?"
The question was meant to poke a hole in the notion that the U.S.
prioritized a small village, in which few people remain, when the rest
of the country was at war, with hundreds of thousands dying at the
hands of Assad.
Reminding that 2015 is the 100th year since the 1915 incidents, he
said that Turkey is well aware that some circles will try intensively
to bring this issue to the table. "It is also a good opportunity to
evaluate and discuss the 1915 incidents. We are and will be putting in
the effort to discuss the truths and to read the history," added
ErdoÄ?an.
Alluding to Armenia, the president said that even though the olive
branch was extended by Turkey, Armenia is still trying to impose its
own perspective.
Turkish-Armenian relations have remained strained for decades due to
the 1915 incidents. Tensions peaked in 1993 when Turkey closed its
borders with Armenia in reaction to the war in Nagarno-Karabakh.
Nevertheless, in April 2014 ErdoÄ?an, who was then prime minister, made
attempts to thaw the tensions between the two countries by issuing a
message ahead of the 99th anniversary of the 1915 incidents. In an
unprecedented move, ErdoÄ?an extended condolences to the grandchildren
of the Armenians who lost their lives in 1915. Both Armenian society
and international circles hailed the message, which read, "It is a
duty of humanity to acknowledge that Armenians remember the suffering
experienced in that period, just like every other citizen of the
Ottoman Empire."
http://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2015/01/06/president-erdogan-calls-eu-to-revise-turkey-policies
Jan 6 2015
President ErdoÄ?an calls EU to revise Turkey policies
SENA ALKAN
ISTANBUL
In his address to Turkish envoys from across the world, President
ErdoÄ?an said Turkey was proven correct in its appraisal of the Syrian
civil war and called for the EU to adopt a more welcoming stance
toward Turkey
President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an, in his address to envoys yesterday at
the seventh Ambassadors Conference in Ankara, called on Turkish envoys
to be aware of the black propaganda purported against Turkey by some
foreign media outlets. "You should stay strong against the yellow
journalism in those countries. You are the representatives of the
Turkish nation, you are the mission chiefs. You should never, ever
make concessions," said the president. He further said that the EU,
which Turkey has been trying to join for decades, must revise its
policies toward Turkey. "They have stalled us for a long time, they
have caused us to lose time. It is a pitiful situation that the EU
tries to give Turkey a lesson while it needs to realize the dangers
and threat [against itself]," said the president. Turkey has been
sitting at the negotiation table with the EU longer than any other
candidate. The country handed its application to Brussels in 1987 and
the accession talks began in 2005. However, negotiations hit a
stalemate in 2007 due to Ankara's position on the Cyprus issue and
opposition from Southern Cyprus, France and Germany.
President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an, in his address to envoys yesterday at
the seventh Ambassadors Conference in Ankara, called on Turkish envoys
to be aware of the black propaganda purported against Turkey by some
foreign media outlets. "You should stay strong against the yellow
journalism in those countries. You are the representatives of the
Turkish nation, you are the mission chiefs. You should never, ever
make concessions," said the president.
Targeting the policies of the EU, which Turkey has been waiting to
join as a member country for decades, the president said that the EU
must revise its policies toward Turkey.
"They have stalled us for a long time, they have caused us to lose
time. It is a pitiful situation that the EU tries to give Turkey a
lesson while it needs to realize the dangers and threat [against
itself]," said the president.
Turkey has been sitting at the negotiation table with the EU longer
than any other candidate. The country handed its application to
Brussels in 1987 and the accession talks began in 2005. However,
negotiations hit a stalemate in 2007 due to Ankara's position on the
Cyprus issue, in which Turkey does not recognize Southern Cyprus,
which is an EU member country and has strongly opposed Turkey's EU
membership with the French and German government. To be able to
classify as an EU member country, Ankara has to successfully finalize
negotiations with the EU in 25 policy chapters that are required to
meet EU standards. So far, only 14 chapters have been opened whereas
17 remain blocked and another four are yet to be discussed. In the
last three years, only one chapter has been opened. Touching on the
increasing Islamophobia, racism and discrimination in some EU
countries, especially in Germany, ErdoÄ?an claimed that activities
targeting Muslims in those countries are at a point that is impossible
to hide.
On the Syrian civil war, which started in 2011 and displaced millions
of Syrians, the Turkish president highlighted that the Islamic State
of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) threat in the region stems from the Bashar
Assad regime and the discriminative policies by the then-Iraqi
government. Referring to the anti-ISIS coalition, led by the U.S. to
eliminate the ISIS threat in the region, ErdoÄ?an said that it is not
possible to end ISIS only through air operations and that boots on the
ground is a must.
The president said that in a conversation with U.S. President Barack
Obama, he had asked him, "Why is Kobani of such strategic importance?"
The question was meant to poke a hole in the notion that the U.S.
prioritized a small village, in which few people remain, when the rest
of the country was at war, with hundreds of thousands dying at the
hands of Assad.
Reminding that 2015 is the 100th year since the 1915 incidents, he
said that Turkey is well aware that some circles will try intensively
to bring this issue to the table. "It is also a good opportunity to
evaluate and discuss the 1915 incidents. We are and will be putting in
the effort to discuss the truths and to read the history," added
ErdoÄ?an.
Alluding to Armenia, the president said that even though the olive
branch was extended by Turkey, Armenia is still trying to impose its
own perspective.
Turkish-Armenian relations have remained strained for decades due to
the 1915 incidents. Tensions peaked in 1993 when Turkey closed its
borders with Armenia in reaction to the war in Nagarno-Karabakh.
Nevertheless, in April 2014 ErdoÄ?an, who was then prime minister, made
attempts to thaw the tensions between the two countries by issuing a
message ahead of the 99th anniversary of the 1915 incidents. In an
unprecedented move, ErdoÄ?an extended condolences to the grandchildren
of the Armenians who lost their lives in 1915. Both Armenian society
and international circles hailed the message, which read, "It is a
duty of humanity to acknowledge that Armenians remember the suffering
experienced in that period, just like every other citizen of the
Ottoman Empire."
http://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2015/01/06/president-erdogan-calls-eu-to-revise-turkey-policies