PARIS - Participating at a meeting where the OECD Turkey Report has been announced, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reminded that ``Turkey and Europe are together in NATO, OSCE, OECD.`` ``Why can`t we be together in the EU?`` asked Erdogan.
Answering a question about ``how Turkish membership will be in the interests of the French public and how Turkey can overcome objections arose within the French society,`` Erdogan said that ``In the criteria of accession, there is no reference to the referendum of peoples. Only the political establishment authorized by the public can make a decision.`` Erdogan continued by saying that ``the French public should look at Turkey as a valuable trade partner and view Turkey`s membership as a plus in their efforts to make the EU a global actor.``
``At a time when global terror is on the rise, Turkey can help stop the terror with its philosophy of `love the created due to the creator`,`` told Erdogan. ``We must spread this understanding and create a world of peace based on love and respect,`` commented Erdogan. ``If we can work together in NATO, OSCE and OECD, then we can be together within the EU as well,`` he noted .
Erdogan announced that ``they expect a rise in foreign investments in Turkey once accession talks begin.`` Erdogan said that ``since January, about 1.8 billion Dollars worth of foreign investment realized in Turkey and that by the end of this year this amount will reach an impressive 2.5 billion Dollars.`` Responding to a question, Erdogan told reporters that he expects the primary surplus in 2006-2007 period to be 6.5 per cent. (ULG) 21.10.2004