BY YILMAZ OZTUNA
TURKIYE- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to France this week was successful, productive and beneficial. Erdogan said that both Turkish foreign policy and our national tendencies had made a good impression. Our decision to cooperate with France in buying 36 Airbus planes and building nuclear power plants is a positive development. France is a leader in nuclear energy. While still in office, President Suleyman Demirel once stated that we couldn’t do without a nuclear power plant, but none of our governments has managed to get one. Now it’s time. Obviously many nuclear power plants will be built but in a fully environmentally conscious manner and without cutting trees or hurting the environment.
Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul should target more productive visits because the EU will prepare Turkey’s progress report very soon and there are still certain European countries, including Austria, which are hesitant about us. However, Austria had been expected to understand us. We should express ourselves and understand their problems about us as well. In any case, Turkey will be able to get a date from the EU for membership negotiations in December. We will start to negotiate the EU’s economic and social criteria at the beginning of next year. European countries will benefit from these developments as well. Smart Europeans understand this, and they should try to explain this to those who don’t. Our contacts with top European statesmen should continue next month. The success of Erdogan’s visit to France has raised our hopes.