Failing to join EU is ‘not the end of the world,’ Turkish Parliament speaker says
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek shake hands with Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Tapani Katainen
If Turkey failed to become a full member of the European Union, it would not be “the end of the world,” Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek told Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Tapani Katainen yesterday.“The majority of Turkey’s population is Muslim and it adopts democratic values. The membership of such a country in the EU would be very meaningful,” Çiçek said in his meeting with Katainen in Turkey.
After saying that any option other than full membership was out of the question, Çiçek said that if Turkey was not granted full membership “it would not be the end of the world. Europeans should know this.”
Çiçek also thanked Finland for its support regarding Turkey’s EU membership process. He noted that relations between Turkish and Finnish governments were good and that the two countries could cooperate in fighting against terrorism, violence, extremism and racism. Meanwhile, Katainen was scheduled to meet Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan late yesterday.
