ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Turkey has become a completely different country with the policies the government has carried out, adding that there were no more crisis, sufferings, difficulties and struggles on the agenda of Turkey.
Erdogan evaluated domestic and foreign developments in his address to nation.
Stressing that the government has worked against problems, which were neglected, with courage and determination, Erdogan said that many urgent difficulties were solved with the support of citizens.
Erdogan said, ``regarding the European Union (EU) membership, we, as government, have taken very important steps that are beyond expectations. We have been in a busy foreign visits traffic to better our relations with our neighbors and other countries in the world and to develop cooperation opportunities. All of these foreign visits are the paving stones of the path which will make Turkey one of the central countries of the world in coming period.``
Erdogan evaluated developments in Turkish foreign policy.
Noting that one of the important foreign developments of last month was Turkey`s participation in G-8 Summit as ``democratic partner``, Erdogan said that he had very beneficial meetings with the representatives of various countries which also attended the Summit.
Erdogan said, ``during our meetings in G-8 Summit, we especially stressed the strategical location of Turkey, its zone of influence extending to a wide geography and the democratic experience it has passed through.``
``Because we believe that Turkey, with the values in its essence, can undertake important roles in adoption of peace and democracy culture, healing the wounds and settlement of stability in its region,`` added Erdogan.
Erdogan said, ``as you also follow through media, two very important summits were being held in Istanbul in last two weeks. The first one was the 31st Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) which was held with the participation of foreign ministers of 57 countries last week. This summit, which was held in a period in which developments in and around Middle East aggravated and regional problems such as Iraq flamed up, was followed by world public opinion with great interest and attention.``
``This summit, in which member countries have expressed their wish for cooperation and solidarity with high voice, has yielded very beneficial results as a platform where Turkey has put forth its approaches regarding the regional problems,`` added Erdogan.
Noting that OIC Summit had two important results, Erdogan said that it was honorable that Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu was elected for the office of OIC Secretary General.
Erdogan said that the OIC Secretary General was elected with the votes of member countries with a voting which was held in democratic ways for the first time with the proposal of Turkey.
Erdogan said, ``this is a mission which provides Turkey`s representation on the highest level among international institutions. We think that this result is a big success for Turkey. We hope that this development will mean a turning point for the solution of existing problems of our country and Islamic geography. We believe that Mr. Ihsanoglu will fulfill his mission in the best way and contribute to implementation of renovation movement which has been delayed in this geography.``
Noting that another development which pleased everybody during the OIC Summit was on Cyprus issue, Erdogan said that Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which has been accepted as Muslim Turkish Cypriot Community in previous OIC meetings, was accepted as Turkish Cypriot State in Istanbul Summit.
Erdogan stressed that this step was very meaningful for the future of TRNC and said that the importance and value of this step would be understood better in coming months.
Noting that another international event, which shows Turkey`s increasing honor on every basis, was NATO Summit that will be held in Istanbul, Erdogan said that developments on world and regional level would be evaluated in this summit.
Recalling that a critical decision would be taken regarding Turkey`s starting EU membership negotiations in December, Erdogan said, ``countdown has started about this issue. Thus, we are in intense effort both for completing EU adjustment arrangements and implementating of these arrangements.``
Noting that they have been in contact with ``European friends`` and have stressed the importance of Turkey`s EU membership on every means, Erdogan said, ``we had the chance to convey these views clearly to our interlocutors during our visit to the Netherlands and also in Brussels Summit last week.``
``The necessity of Turkey`s setting a negotiation date with the EU in the end of 2004 and starting negotiations rapidly was confirmed one more time in Brussels Summit,`` noted Erdogan.
Erdogan said, ``also in the same summit, regarding European Constitution, all of the sensitivities that Turkey has expressed were taken into consideration. I would like to clearly say that in each new meeting we held with EU member countries, we receive a greater interest and support when compared with the previous ones.``
Erdogan said that Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (COEPA)`s ending monitoring procedure, which has been applied on Turkey for 8 years due to deficiencies in democracy and human rights fields, four days after the meetings in Brussels was a sign of progress that Turkey has made.
Erdogan said, ``thus, we hope 2004 December will be a beginning date of a new period for the world, a new vision for Europe and a new Renaissance in which enrichment ideal with differences was replaced with clash culture.``
(GC-AÖ) 24.06.2004