WASHINGTON - German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Party deputy Ruprecht Polenz said on Tuesday that if the European Union (EU) started membership negotiations with Turkey, it would give the message to the world that the EU did not want clash of civilizations.
Replying questions of A.A, Polenz said that Europe was now on crossroads and it had to chose a geostrategical path, adding that it should take into consideration not only economy but also the policy of giving a just chance for Turkey's EU membership. He said that the tension between Islamic world and West increased and ending this clash of civilizations was the most important difficulty of the 21st century.
Polenz said that if membership negotiations with Turkey would start in 2005, the EU would have given three strong messages to the world, adding that the first one was that the EU did not want clash of civilizations.
Polenz said regarding the second message that even starting negotiations with Turkey would have big effects on Arabian world, adding that democracy, principles of law and human rights practices of the EU would be a model for Muslims as well. He added that it would be seen that Islam and democracy could exist together.
Polenz said that the third strong message that EU would give to the world was fighting against Islamist terrorists together with Islamists.
Stressing that an important amount of Turkish people were living in Germany, Polenz said that EU's not starting membership negotiations with Turkey would give wrong message to Turkish people living in Germany.
(GC-AY) 27.04.2004