ANKARA - Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Tuesday he was pleased to see that many European statesmen, politicians, thinkers and businessmen were looking on Turkey's EU membership with favor without getting into narrow-minded domestic politics.
"Turkey, an EU-candidate country, will become a country that fulfilled its reforms and upgraded its standards to EU level, once the full membership negotiations, a long process which started with contributions of Austria, are completed successfully," Gul told a banquet he hosted in honor of Austrian President Heinz Fischer.
"Such a Turkey would bring political, economic and social gains for the Union with its strategic location, dynamic population and great economic potential," he said.
In this respect, Gul said many European politicians, thinkers, statesmen and businessmen, who want EU to become a global actor, were in favor of Turkey's membership.
Gul also touched on historical ties between Turkey and Austria, and said that these ties set a solid ground to deepen and improve relations.
"In this way, our relations have been diversified from energy --especially the Nabucco project-- to industrial investments, from trade to archeology," Gul said.
He said nearly 200,000 Turkish people were living in Austria, adding that these people should be encouraged to integrate with Austria by learning Austrian language and its culture.
(TÇ-GC)