Gul: The EU should abide by the agreements it made with Turkey

President Gul yesterday visited the Foreign Ministry, which he headed for over four years before his current post. After meeting with Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, Gul addressed ministry personnel. Later, Gul also visited Turkey's Secretariat General for European Union Affairs. Saying that the EU project is ultimately bigger than both the Union itself and Turkey, he added "We haven't reached this point by chance." Gul reiterated that Turkey is continuing its reforms in every area, explaining, "These reforms are for raising the standard of living of the Turkish people, not pleasing the EU." Addressing recent hurdles in Turkey 's EU bid from certain countries, he said, "It is against our strategic policy to hinder negotiations for political reasons. Our aim is full membership, and the EU should abide by the principle of pacta sund servanda," meaning pacts must be followed by all the parties to them.