Hungary: "The EU should stress Turkey's role in middle east"

The European Union should promote Turkey as a model for post-revolution countries transitioning to democracy across the Middle East, said Hungarian Minister for European Union Affairs Eniko Gyori yesterday. Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Gyori said that the 27-nation bloc should consistently point to Turkey as a model for the Islamic world amid a wave of protests sweeping across the Arab world, demanding that their rulers step down. Turkey is currently serving in the rotating EU presidency post. Gyori said Hungary hopes to open negotiations with Turkey on the competition chapter during its presidency, but added that the EU expects "maximum cooperation from Turkey." She also praised Turkey's request that the EU abolish visa requirements for Turkish citizens traveling to EU countries, but said the Union has been unable to reach agreement on starting negotiations on this. Gyori added that if Turkey meets the criteria to open negotiations on competition and cooperates on an agreement on the return of illegal immigrants, Hungary would have a strong argument to sway EU members reluctant about visa exemption.