British foreign secretary: "Turkey's EU accession a strategic necessity

Turkey's staunch supporter in the European Union, the British foreign secretary, has said Turkey's accession to the 27-member club is a strategic necessity and that it would also have some economic benefits for the union, the economy of which is in dire straits. William Hague told The Observer in an interview published on Saturday that Turkey is "a rapidly growing player and one of the countries that I work with the most." He said if "you add up who I make the most phone calls to," the foreign minister of Turkey is up there with Hillary Clinton. He said he wants very much to see Turkey become a member of the European Union, whose membership talks with the candidate country seem to be deadlocked and facing a possible freeze next year. Hague said that it is a strategic necessity and economically beneficial to bring Turkey into the EU. "Turning away Turkey from the EU would be a great, long-term – a century-long – error by Europe," Hague underlined.