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outubro 26, 2004
Prince backs Turkish campaign to join EU
Fonte: The Times
Prince backs Turkish campaign to join EU
By Suna Erdem
Istanbul bombers 'simply brought us together, Briton and Turk, Muslim, Jew and Christian'
THE Prince of Wales made an unusually direct political intervention yesterday to support Turkey’s bid to join the European Union.
In a speech made as he re-opened Britain’s consulate in Istanbul, blasted by an al-Qaeda suicide bomb last year, he sought to emphasise the unifying effect of the bombing. The consulate bomb killed Consul General Roger Short and was one of four attacks that also hit two Jewish synagogues and the British-owned HSBC bank in the city and killed several passers-by.
In the speech to an assembly that included Turkish politicians, businessmen and writers as well as leading figures from many religious communities, the Prince, broadly following the Government policy, said: “As we look ahead today at a new era of British diplomatic and consular activity here in Istanbul, we also see Turkey taking its place in the European Union.
“There will be those both here and elsewhere in Europe who fear that their values, beliefs and standards may somehow be diluted in a fusion of East and West, of Islam and Christianity. I understand those fears and I hope that the UK can play a special part in helping to allay them. The essence of Turkish culture needs to be preserved inside the European Union.
“For many years, the United Kingdom has been one of Turkey’s most steadfast supporters in Europe and more widely. I know we will continue to provide that support in the years to come.”
Of Turkey’s EU application, he said: “You are in a position to demonstrate, once and for all, that secular democracy does not have to come at the expense of Islamic values and social justice; and that accepting Turkish cultural and social values within Europe does not mean that democracy and the rule of law are under threat.”
Talks on Turkish entry to the EU were given the go ahead earlier this month in a report from the European Commission but in some member states, especially in France, Austria and Holland, there is powerful opposition especially from right-wingers. Sir Teddy Taylor, the backbench Eurosceptic Tory MP, said the Prince of Wales was only reflecting government policy.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t have said anything without checking it out with the Foreign Office first, but they have some funny ideas at the moment. I think an excellent proposal for the Prince to put forward instead is to let Turkey in as long as Britain goes out at the same time.”
The Prince spoke in the interior courtyard of the 19th-century Pera House.
Outside the imposing Portland stone building there now stands a thick, black blast-proof perimeter wall separating the British mission from the bustle of central Istanbul’s Beyoglu district. There was no trace of the former entrance gate, blown apart by the truck bomb on November 20.
Across from the Consulate, the old Istanbul apartment blocks that crowded the Pera House gate were still in various states of disrepair.
Some still lacked windows, which had been blown out by last year’s blasts. A few, sad blocks stood abandoned as broken reminders of the first shocking appearance of a local al-Qaeda cell in Muslim, secular Turkey.
Pera House, too, has yet to be completed. Sir Peter Westmacott, the ambassador, said that people were keen to return to a building.
Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, reiterated what has become almost a mantra for a Consulate determined to stay put, refusing to give in to the militants.
He said: “Part of our response (to the attacks) was to repair and then return to our traditional Istanbul home, and to the community of which it has been a part for nearly two centuries.”
Publicado por esta às outubro 26, 2004 05:47 PM