'Our face has always been to Europe' says Turkish FM

By Sorwar Alam

ANKARA

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday EU membership was still a strategic goal for Turkey.

“Our face has been always towards because we are this continent. Turkey is part of this continent, like it or not. We are not outsiders,” Cavusoglu told TRT World’s international forum in Istanbul.

Cavusoglu’s remarks come as European leaders meet in Brussels for two days of high-level talks, which will include discussions on Turkey.

He underlined how Europe was Turkey’s number-one trade partner.

“We share European values, common values and we promote [these]. We are a founding member of many European institutions, like the Council of Europe,” he added.

Turkey applied for membership of the EU in 1987. Accession talks began in 2005.

To gain membership, Turkey has to successfully conclude negotiations with the EU in 35 policy chapters that involve reforms and the adoption of European standards.

Cavusoglu said that despite Turkey doing its best in the past 16 years the “EU is the only institution that we couldn’t become a member of”.

“EU membership is still a strategic goal for us,” Cavusoglu and added: “But we don’t see this from the other side [EU]. This is the problem.”

He also said that despite all these issues, Europe could not be the only area of focus for Ankara.

“We need to balance our foreign policy… We have to turn our face to the Islamic world, which is very important,” he said, also talking about Turkey’s interests in Africa, Latin and Central Asia.

Turkey “can perfectly balance this,” the foreign minister added.

He said Europe should understand that domestic support for Turkey’s EU membership was going to decrease day by day “because there huge disappointment and frustration”.

“Disappointment in the EU’s double standards on how they see us and the frustration of Islamophobia, xenophobia and so on.”