DÜSSELDORF (CIHAN) - Former Secretary General of the German Christian Democrats (CDU) and member of the Düsseldorf State Parliament, Ruprecht Polenz said on Monday that Europeans had still remember the Vienna siege and some cities of Germany still celebrate the liberation of Vienna from the Turks.
Polenz delivered his speech to members of the European Turks Businessmen and Industrialists Association (ATIAD) in Düsseldorf, Germany, on Monday. Polenz said that Europe was aware of the geographical importance of Turkey but Europeans still fear the Turks due to two sieges of Vienna. Ottoman Turks besieged Vienna in 1529 and 1683 and the sieges created a great fear of Ottoman Turks. Polenz said that some German cities like Munster still celebrate the of the second Vienna siege in 1683.
Polenz said that tensions between the West and the East increased after the Iraqi War and as the bridge between the East and the West, Turkey, has increased in importance. He added that petroleum and natural gas reserves in Central Asia and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Petroleum Pipeline, which will export Caspian Sea petrol and natural gas to the World, have also increased Turkey's geographic importance.
"With the current situations in Palestine and Afghanistan, as well as the problem of nuclear weapons in India and Pakistan, Turkey's powerful ties with these countries make it an important player in the region. Turkey showed itself indispensable with its contributions to the peace operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan," Polenz said.
Polenz stated that the world's most important problem will be water and not petroleum. Turkey's rich water resources have increased Turkey's importance.