Gul: Majority Of Turkish Population Supports EU Membership

ANKARA - Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Saturday that majority of Turkish population supports the country`s membership to the EU.
Speaking at EuroNews channel, Gul said, "Turkey, which is a part of Europe, shares European values and also considers democracy, respect towards human rights, supremacy of law and free market economy as common values."
Noting that Turkey, from the very beginning, has been inside European institutions and one of the founder members of Council of Europe, Gul said that he will do his best for continuation of talks with the EU, and support the process.
When asked his interpretation over the decreasing support to EU membership in Turkey, Gul said that in fact majority of the population supports EU membership. Noting that there are several disappointments in Turkey, Gul said that rooted reforms have been fulfilled in Turkey but Turkish people think EU did not appreciate those reforms enough.
Gul said, "Turkey is fighting against terrorism and innocent people were killed. We have not received enough support in fight against terrorism, and Turkish people feel sorry about that. Some promises were made. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) voted in favor of Annan Plan. However, these promises were not fully kept. This also saddens Turkish people."
Upon a question about activities for a new constitution, Gul said that Turkey is a very open society, everything is discussed clearly and all ideas, including the most extreme ones, are expressed in the country. Gul noted that there is a consensus on basic rules in the constitution which are democracy, secularism and preservation of social law state, adding that they will not step back from these principles. Gul said that Turkey will always be a democratic law state.
Upon a question about freedom of expression, Gul said, "there is freedom of expression in Turkey. People in Turkey can express their thoughts. There is an impression in Europe that many writers, journalists, intellectuals and even Nobel prize winner or Elif Safak were detained or arrested due to article 301 (of Turkish Penal Code). But this impression is completely groundless. I believe an amendment should be made on article 301 as it causes such impressions. I think Turkish parliament and government will launch some initiatives about this issue."