President Gül: Turkish people 'may say no' to EU membership

Sunday, May 1, 2011
ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

The Turkish people might say “no” to European Union membership, just as the Norwegian public did, President Abdullah Gül told Austrian media ahead of his scheduled visit Monday to the European country.

The president discussed Turkey’s EU membership bid, Turkish foreign policy, domestic political developments and the vision for the country in an interview with Kurier, Die Presse and Der Standard, Austria’s three leading newspapers.

Der Standard published Gül’s interview in its April 29 edition with the headline, “Maybe Turkish people would say ‘no’ to EU membership.”

Told by the reporters that there is much suspicion in Austria about Turkey’s potential membership in the European bloc, Gül said: “Austrian citizens may have a different point of view against Turkey. What we should do is to introduce Turkey better in Austria. We should also explain to them that Turkey will not be a burden on Austria when it becomes an EU member. On the contrary, this will be advantageous for both parties.”

Asked his opinion about an ongoing discussion on giving lessons in Turkish in Austria schools, the president said he believes Turkish nationals living in Austria have to have two main languages and be able to speak fluently.

Noting that a common decision was made in 2005 for Turkey to start accession talks, Gül said the EU “should be true to this.”

“Referendums will take place when Turkey comes to the point of becoming a member. We respect referendums. The path leading to the EU is a long process,” he said.

The millions of Muslims in Europe cannot and should not be disregarded, Gül added, saying: “Such a thing will mean religious discrimination. It is not important whether a person is Muslim, Christian or Jewish. It is important that this person has to support fundamental principles of democracy and human rights.”

In his interview, Gül said both Turkey and Austria are the inheritors of important states and empires. “I believe we will be able to deepen economic and political relations during [my] visit,” he said. “Around 200,000 Turkish nationals are living in Austria. 100,000 of them are Austrian nationals. They are a part of Austrian society and very important for Turkish-Austrian relations.”

Source: Hürriyet.
Link: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=gul-says-turkish-people-may-say-no-to-eu-membership-2011-05-01.