On the eve of Turkish President Abdullah Gül’s visit to Vienna, Austrian President Heinz Fischer has said his country favors the continuation of the EU membership process for Turkey, with an increased focus on substantive issues.
He also reiterated the Austrian government’s position that accession negotiations are open-ended, meaning that they will not automatically lead to membership.
“It is important that negotiations with Turkey continue. Nobody denies that the process will be a long and difficult one. Austria fully endorsed the launch of official membership talks with Turkey. The only chapter that has been closed in the course of negotiations happened during our presidency,” Fischer said in an exclusive interview with Today’s Zaman.
Fischer acknowledged that the 27-nation bloc is undergoing very difficult times due to the economic crisis and that this would increase skepticism for enlargement in public opinion. “It is a question of whether the EU is ready to accept a large country like Turkey with a population of 70 million,” he said, stressing there are other special issues, such as the Cyprus problem, that remain to be solved. The Austrian president declined to give an estimate of when Turkey could become a full member of the EU.
The Austrian president also rejected charges of xenophobia and Islamophobia, saying, “We do not tolerate any kind of discrimination, including xenophobia.” He underlined that freedom of religion was protected under the current constitution. “I would say this: Freedom of religion not only applies to churches in this country but also covers Islam as well. An environment of respect must be established for the people from different religions or regions,” he explained.
Touching upon the increased economic cooperation between the two countries, Fischer said with Austria was the largest contributor of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Turkey in 2010, which amounted to 1 billion euros from Austrian companies.(YES JUST FROM AUSTRIA)He praised the hundreds of Turkish businesses operating in Austria. “I think the increased economic cooperation will help promote the general outlook of our bilateral ties,” he underlined.
Both presidents are expected to cover a range of issues from political dialogue to economic cooperation. More than 200 million Turks live in Austria, and their integration is expected to be one of the topics of discussion between the two presidents. Gül would become the first Turkish president to visit Austria since former President Süleyman Demirel paid a visit in 1998. The Austrian president visited Turkey in 2008. Gül’s reciprocal visit starts today and ends on May 4.
Turkish president: Turks may say ‘no’ to the EU
In an interview with leading Austrian dailies on the eve of his visit, Turkish President Abdullah Gül has said the Turkish people may say “no” to EU membership, just as the Norwegians did.
In a Der Standard interview published on April 29, Gül said, “Turkish nationals living in Austria have to speak the two languages fluently.” Responding to another question, Gül said millions of Muslims in Europe could not be, and should not be, disregarded. “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 supports the fundamental principles of democracy and human rights,” he stated.
As for EU prospects for Turkey, Gül said: “Austrian citizens may have a different point of view, one not sympathetic to Turkey. What we should do is to present Turkey in a better way 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.”
In another interview published on the same day by Austria’s Die Presse, Gül said both countries were inheritors of important states and empires. “I believe that we will be able to deepen economic and political relations during the visit. Around 200,000 Turkish nationals are living in Austria. Around 100,000 of them are Austrian nationals. They are a part of Austrian society and very important for Turkish-Austrian relations,” he said.
“The Austrian constitution recognizes the religion of Islam. This is a good starting point. Austria is the inheritor of an empire consisting of several pieces. However, we see that there are concerning developments in all of Europe, such as xenophobia, extremism and Islamophobia. They contradict the spirit of Europe as Europe is the motherland of human rights. We have seen in the past those who are different are isolated in Europe,” he said.
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