BY MERIC KOYATASI
AKSAM- Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok yesterday made a wide-ranging speech at the staff college. Each newspaper will probably focus on a different part of his speech, but I suggest that you download the whole speech from the Internet and read it for yourself. (www.tsk.mil.tr)
If you want to know what’s going on in the world, you’d be well advised to read Ozkok’s address line by line, because his speech is a political, economic and defensive analysis which gives a clear outline of the future of both Turkey and its neighbors. Today, I’ll focus on what he said about the EU.
We understand from his speech that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) openly supports Turkey’s EU membership. Here’s some of what Ozkok had to say on the subject:
‘The EU will soon be competing with Russia and China as well as countries of southeast Asia in the political and economic arena. In this competition, we will provide the EU with a young population, plenty of land, and great political power. We’ll be their bridge to Middle East and Central Asia. I hope the Europeans come to see how significant this is. The EU is our partner in the economy, politics and defense. Our interests lie within the Union. Our admission to the EU wouldn’t be an act of charity, because both sides will benefit from this. If we aren’t admitted into the Union, it won’t be the end of the world. But what we desire and deserve as a nation is full membership to the EU.’
There’s not much to add to Ozkok’s statement. Turkey has the potential to become a global power. In order to raise our country to the place it deserves to be, we should maintain political stability and boost our economic development.