TURKIYE- Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna comments on Turkey’s European Union membership bid. A summary of his column is as follows:
We congratulate the parties who made it into Parliament and even the losing opposition parties, for they skillfully identified the issue that should be Turkey’s priority. Previous leaders lacked this skill. We call them those who favor the status quo. They want our country to be governed just like it was in the past. Some people in Turkey even want to go back to the pre-1938 period, wiping away the reforms after Ataturk’s death. Turkey’s priority issue is obviously the European Union. We can call this goal ‘catching up to European standards and reaching the level of modern civilization.’ It concerns the future of all of our children and all coming generations. This is our goal of getting rid of poverty, solving our border dispute and developing our rich national culture. This goal can be reached by attaining a democracy based on human rights. This is the greatest project of civilization that world history has ever witnessed.
None of the EU member countries has ever become poor, divided and cut up into pieces, and they all have developed their national cultures. Erdogan and Baykal have started their work better than we expected. We’ve grown tired of politicians whose ambition, complexes and stale ideas came first and foremost in their minds. If these two leaders proceed carefully against those who could create tension and disorder, a peaceful Turkey can give birth to a miracle. Turkey’s potential power is so great, and our rivals know this. A host of inattentive leaders who were incapable of understanding Turkey’s power have caused us great problems. The EU will mean a series of radical reforms. Together, we can certainly traverse this long and narrow road.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION