ANKARA- Turkey said Thursday that "hopes are still alive" on European unification despite a crushing Dutch defeat of the EU constitution in a national referendum, a vote that calls into question European integration and Turkey's chance as a candidate.
EU membership has been a Turkish dream for decades and many Turks who support membership are terrified that the Dutch vote and earlier French balloting against the constitution will lead European leaders to reassess the role of the 25-nation bloc and its expansion plans.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan, in a written statement, said that despite the votes, "Turkey will continue to work in the direction of the preference of most of its people."
"Our hopes are still alive that the unification of Europe will be continued," Tan added.
Turkey is scheduled to open entry talks with the EU on Oct. 3 and Turkish and EU leaders said repeatedly after the French vote that they would not let the balloting divert them from the opening the talks.
But the Dutch rejection raises questions about European integration.
Many Turks fear that the vote casts doubt on the commitment to opening up Europe further, especially when it comes to Turkey, a mostly poor, Muslim nation of 70 million that could strain Europe's already taxed resources. That in turn could jeopardize government reforms aimed at EU membership.
"The European Union is in turmoil. Its future is very uncertain," said Duygu Bazoglu Sezer, a professor of political science at Ankara's Bilkent University. "In this new stage that the European Union is entering its least worry will be Turkey."
The average Turk "will lose interest," Sezer added. "They will sense that the European Union is now on a downslide. The promising world has now perhaps lost its dynamism. That is the message that is beaming out."
Cetin Kargin, a jeweler in Ankara was despondent about the vote.
"We witnessed Europeans rejecting something that we are struggling to achieve," he said. "The EU is unfolding."
But retiree Ahmet Yilmaz said the results were not bad as far as he was concerned.
"The EU was never going to accept us anyway," he said.