[sure he said so; but Europe's population said different: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb/eb65/eb65_first_en.pdf - and hopefully European politicians and civil servants in Brussels remember that it is the population paying their salaries and electing them; dm+]
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=101197 Turkey's EU negotiator says Turkey ready to join Economy Minister and Chief EU Negotiator Ali Babacan said Turkey was determined to join the EU because it has proved that it can share in the common principles of the EU. Babacan gave a speech at a panel at the Davos summit entitled "European Identity." The discussion topic focused on what the future of European identity would be. Attendees included Finland President Tarja Halonen, Bank of Europe President Jean-Claude Trichet and French government spokesman Jean-François Cope. Babacan said that Turkey had met the Copenhagen criteria at the end of 2004 and moved to the negotiation phase. He said that Europe's strength was stability, welfare and democracy and it could preserve this power through an enlargement perspective. Babacan underlined the importance of communication through the EU process. "Turkey is at a crucial point in the dialogue between East and West after Sept. 11," said Babacan. Turkey's membership to the EU Babacan said that Muslim countries were closely following Turkey's EU accession process. "Turkey will set a pattern for Muslim countries," said Babacan. The minister said that Turkey's membership process was different from other countries because it would have an important role for the EU's peace project for the 21st century. Babacan said that everyone had to respect cultural differences while highlighting all the different cultures represented in Europe. "The EU has to be the union of differences," said Babacan. He pointed out that shared ideals and values composed the base of European identity. "These values are the rule of law, fundamental rights and freedoms, participatory democracy, cultural diversity, respect for differences and the ability to live together," said Babacan. He added that Europeans had wars among themselves but after finding peace they united under common values and launched the European peace project. During Trichet's speech, he praised the euro as a strong currency and pointed out that Europe's money was being more widely circulated throughout the world. He emphasized that the euro had already surpassed the dollar in terms of value and circulation. He also touched on the historical importance of İstanbul and said Turkey was certainly a part of European culture. After the panel, Babacan met with representatives from global investment banks. +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
