ANKARA (CIHAN) - The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan said in his address to the nation on Thursday that a negative decision from the EU on Turkish membership would not be compatible with the ideals of the EU, with international courtesy, nor with a sense of justice.
Prime Minister Erdogan said that Turkey believes that it will be given an accession talks date at the EU December summit.
Prime Minister Erdogan evaluated domestic and foreign developments in his address to the nation. Erdogan said that Turkey had taken unprecedented steps in solving economic and social problems and in contributing to the resolution of international problems.
The Turkish Prime Minister said that the recognition of Turkish Cyprus as a 'state' at the Foreign Ministerial Summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference was an important development. Erdogan stated that the election of the Turkish academic Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu as Secretary General of the OIC was a great success.
The joint declaration of the OIC Foreign Ministerial Summit in Istanbul last week said that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) would be represented at the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) under the title of the ''Turkish Cypriot State'' as had been foreseen in the failed plan of the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to reunify Cyprus.
The self-proclaimed TRNC formerly only had 'observer community' status at the OIC. However, the OIC decided to elevate its status to that of an observer state at the Istanbul summit.
Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkey took control of the northern part of the island in response to a Greek coup that sought to unite the island with Greece.
Regarding the upcoming NATO Summit in Istanbul, Erdogan acknowledged that there would be certain problems during the summit period. The Turkish Prime Minister apologised to the people in Istanbul for the current intensive security measures in the city which are disturbing daily life.
In his address to the nation, Erdogan also added that Turkey was seeking to open accession talks with the EU without delay.