Erdogan: "Turkey's EU accession will make Europe better able to promote world peace"

Turkey's eventual European Union accession will help Europe contribute more to world peace, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday. Speaking at a joint press conference alongside his visiting Belgian counterpart Yves Leterme in Ankara, Erdogan said Turkey's eventual admission to the 27-nation bloc will enable the continent to do more to improve peace, stability, harmony and prosperity around the world. "Turkey has full belief that Belgium will be committed to the principles of pacta sunt servanda and equity during its EU term presidency in the second half of next year, and will make constructive efforts towards this end," Erdogan told reporters. "One of the EU's founding members, Belgium is a country with political and economic influence located at the heart of Europe. Trade between Turkey and Belgium hit €6 billion in 2008." Stating that they had discussed ways to boost bilateral ties in a number of areas, Erdogan added, "Belgium is an important country for Turkey as a NATO ally and EU member, and so Turkey wants to strengthen its relations with this country in every area, particularly keeping the channel of dialogue open to eliminate differences in our stances on the fight against terrorism. We should not forget that terrorism poses a threat to all humanity, wherever it is seen." Erdogan also said Belgium and Turkey reaffirmed the need to maintain a trilateral dialogue mechanism among their respective justice, interior and foreign ministers. For his part, Leterme said that Turkey's EU accession negotiations are open-ended, adding that the country's EU accession process must be streamlined and encouraged. Pointing out that his current trip to Turkey is his first overseas visit as Belgian prime minister, Leterme said that this was no coincidence, as Turkey is a crucial country. "There is an important Turkish community in Belgium. We have been pleased to see this community become integrated with Belgian society," Leterme stressed. On his country's EU presidency in the second half of 2010, he said, "We discussed this topic. Belgium pays great attention to Turkey's candidacy and hopes that the negotiations are concluded successfully. We will focus on Turkey's negotiations during our term presidency." He also said, "I exchanged opinions with my Turkish counterpart Erdogan on security issues.. We believe Turkey can play an important regional role." Asked about his comments before becoming premier on offering Turkey a so-called "privileged partnership" rather than full EU membership, Leterme said that the Belgian government believes the negotiations process should be given a chance and supports Turkey's EU full membership. Earlier in the day, President Abdullah Gul received Leterme at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. Erdogan later also hosted a dinner in Leterme's honor at the Prime Ministry residence.