SANLIURFA - The head of a leading Turkish business association said on Friday that EU negotiation process and IMF-backed Adjustment Program were important vehicles to control economic shrinkage in Turkey.
Arzuhan Dogan Yalcindag, chairperson of the Turkish Industrialists` & Businessmen`s Association (TUSIAD), addressed association`s Chairmanship Council meeting in southeastern province of Sanliurfa.
Yalcindag said IMF Stand-by deal would expire in May, 2008, before affirming that Turkish people lost interest in the EU process.
Yalcindag said absence of those vehicles, that assumed important roles in the past, posed a very big risk for Turkey`s economy and urged perseverence in disinflation as a main policy.
TUSIAD chairperson said monetary policy should be flexible (to facilitate adjustment to changing international conjuncture); budget deficit should be kept under control; and deficient reforms should be taken up again.
"EU negotiation process is a fundamental tool in implementing Turkey`s micro-economic reforms. Our reactions or support to the EU process should not be shaped according to short term political developments. Progressing on the way to EU full membership is not something imposed by external sources but an expression of the society`s willingness for prosperity, democracy and social development," she said.
"Our ultimate goal is to ensure Turkey`s evolution from an `emerging country` to a `developed country," Yalcindag also said.
(AY-ULG)