----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2000 8:11 AM Subject: [STOPNATO] Turkey pitches itself as EU's 'bridge to Chinese border' STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG "Turkey would act as a bridge between Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, giving the EU influence over a vast Euro-Asian region stretching to the China border. [President Suleyman Demirel]"....If EU comes, can NATO be far behind? Or does it go the other way around? ------------------------------------------------ Financial Times Turkey will give EU a link to Asia, says president By Leyla Boulton and Quentin Peel in Ankara - 6 Mar 2000 21:26GMT Sleyman Demirel, the Turkish president, on Monday sought to allay fears in the European Union over Turkey's proposed membership, saying its benefits would far outweigh the costs. Turkey would act as a bridge between Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, giving the EU influence over a vast Euro-Asian region stretching to the Chinese border, he said. "Turkey should not be taken as a single country," he said in an interview with the Financial Times. "Whatever we are going to take from the EU we will add far more. Turkey is a very dynamic country. We are not a burden on Europe. We are going to be an honourable partner." He said the EU, which accepted Turkey as a candidate for membership at its summit in December, must recognise a "new political geography" since the collapse of the Soviet Union. "I don't think Europe is able to stay within a fortress and forget remaining peoples and countries outside it." President Demirel urged the EU to back his proposed stability pact in the Caucasus, modelled on its plan for the Balkans. "The Caucasus is part of Euro-Asia," he said. If the Caucasus was not stable, the whole region would be affected. He said he had written to President Bill Clinton, Vladimir Putin, the acting Russian head of state, and the British, French, and German leaders. The plan, which had received positive signals, would guarantee the stability of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia - all threatened by internal conflict and, possibly, the spillover from Russia's war in Chechnya. Mr Demirel said the EU offered a great opportunity for Turkey. "We shall push ourselves to a higher level. That is our dream to become more rich, more contemporary." He admitted that the challenge would be more political than economic as Turkey would have to curb its 60 per cent inflation "whether we are in the EU or not". He expressed confidence that Turkey could meet the EU's political criteria for a fully-functioning democracy and that the powerful military establishment would not intervene in the political process. "I don't think it is a problem," he said, provided the civilian governments "did everything" to protect Turkey's secularism and territorial integrity. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Advertisement: redtag.com offers UNBELIEVABLE prices on a wide variety of brand names. Get a boys or girls MURRAY 20" bike for only $29.99! Compare as high as $99. To receive 10% off any purchase TODAY go to http://www.lisbot.com/links/redtag2
