WARSAW
Turkey has not lost its determination to gain European Union membership, despite EU leaders turning cold towards it, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc has said.
In a speech in the Polish capital of Warsaw, he said on Wednesday that an EU with Turkey inside was the only way permanent solutions to crises around the world could be produced.
He said that the success of the far-right in Europe's recent parliamentary elections had weakened the EU as an institution in the eyes of European society.
Arinc declared: "A culturally essentialist Europe cannot be a global actor when the winds of Cold War blow. Quite the contrary, a cosmopolitan Europe with diversification is the guarantee for development.
"Turkey is the sine qua non in such a picture."
Arinc also said that Turkey was ready to break down the prejudices of the European extreme right in order to achieve its EU bid.
- 'Strong country'
Far-right parties made strong gains in the European Parliamentary elections at the end of May, including the victory of Marine Le Pen's far-right party, the anti-immigration Front National (FN) in France, with more than 25 per cent of the vote.
The deputy prime minister said: "What did the EU do in response to Turkey, which had abided by the Maastricht and Copenhagen criteria - a strong country in its region with a strong economic record?
"Why did the leaders of the EU disincline Turkey from its integration bid? Without asking these questions, reports which only examine Turkey's steps cannot lead us to a solution."
Arinc later met Turkish businessmen at a dinner organized by the Poland-Turkey Businessmen Association (POTIAD) in Warsaw.
He inaugurated the Yunus Emre Institute in Warsaw, together with Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Henrika Moscicka Dendys, and expressed his wish that the institute would help Turkey and Poland's historic ties flourish.
The Yunus Emre Institute aims to contribute to the training of competent academicians and researchers in the fields of Turkish language, history, culture, art and music through certification programs in several cities across the world.
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