Speaking to journalists from Turkey in London, where he is on an official visit, Gül said Turkey will protest Cyprus serving as president of the rotating EU in July 2012.
Gül noted that talks between the EU and Turkey have been stalled for a long time, saying that almost all of the negotiation chapters have been frozen and that there is little possibility to open any of them at this time. “We have said that this hurts the EU´s reputation greatly. This might greatly discredit the EU starting in the first half of 2012. Can you imagine? The Greek Cypriot administration joined the EU, violating all the principles of the union, in a half-done manner, in an incomplete way. This was their first example of violating the principles of this family. And now, this half-country, this incomplete nation, will serve as EU president. You have such a union, but the presidency will be that of half a country. It will be half a country leading a miserable union,” Gül told Turkish journalists, using the word “miserable” in English, and adding that he has said the same words to EU officials.
Gül said Turkey would not participate in any meetings to be chaired by Cyprus but has no problems with continuing to work with the commission.
Visit to the UK
Gül also spoke about the details of his visit, saying that officials asked him questions about Syria in all of his meetings. “This also came at a time when an interview with Bashar al-Assad was published in the Sunday Times, so it was a hot topic in England. Naturally, when Syria´s nearest neighbor is here, that was the first question they asked. We joined an editorial meeting at The Guardian; they asked the same thing there,” he said.
Gül said Turkey had no hidden agendas concerning Syria, stating: “We want security, economic stability and welfare. If there is enough wealth, everybody will take his share of that. This is all we want.”
He said it was impossible for a single-party state, or other oppressive form of government, to survive in this age. “The walls of fear have come down. This was what happened in Egypt, and what is happing in Syria. This is why we want this transitional process to be complete without damaging or weakening Syria, without causing any suffering to the people of Syria. We also think that foreign intervention is not the right way. We hope it won´t reach such a point,” he explained.
The PKK and Europe
President Gül said the issue of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers´ Party (PKK) also came up during his talks in the UK, noting: “I always say this openly, nothing can justify terrorism. Radical political ideas can be defended as long as there is no violence behind them, but the fight against those who use violence will continue until the end. Sometimes it´s regional and sometimes international. We attach great importance to cooperation on this issue.”
Another question the president said was asked frequently was how Turkey was able to emerge from the global economic crisis almost unscathed. “We get this question a lot here, they ask, ‘Where does Turkey´s strength come from?´ Well it comes from the soft power it has earned. It has always had [a good] military. Our population was also this size before, but what really strengthened its economy was its soft power,” he answered.
Gül said it was important for Turkey to complete membership negotiations with the EU, adding that Turkey´s soft power has also contributed to its relations with the EU. He said the EU process gave Turkey strength, stating that perhaps Turks, like the Norwegians, might vote against Turkish membership one day, but said the process should be completed first. “The negotiation process is making a huge contribution [to Turkey´s progress]. This is why we should carry on with determination. The eurozone crisis is a problem for both EU members and countries outside the eurozone. That does not concern us; we do not have any intentions of joining the eurozone. That is when you really lose sovereignty,” he said.
In response to a question on whether he could have imagined, as a young student who came to London in 1976 to study, that one day he would meet the queen of England, Gül said, “I hear the queen was crowned when I was three.” He recalled that he also never thought he would be president one day, saying: “Fate brought me here, to such a position. Of course it is very exciting and a source of pride. We drove by the palace today; both sides of it were decorated with Turkish and British flags. This is an additional source of pride and certainly [enhances my sense of] responsibility. This tells me one thing: We do have inadequacies in our country, but the channels [to achieve] are there. As a child from a family from Kayseri, in Anatolia, I am the president of Turkey.”
He said his first experience abroad was his stay in London. “That´s how I learned about the world. That was the first time I saw a black person. I saw the colorful world of Muslims in the big mosque at Regent´s Park. I heard of different denominations here for the first time. And again it was in that time that I saw great struggles for freedom. The world has changed a lot,” the president reminisced.
Gül also said his two years as a student in London had contributed greatly to shaping his ideas of what a democracy should be like today.
Possible PKK threat in Syria
In response to a question on how Turkey would act in the face of a potential military threat from Syria, the president said: “We will prepare for every possible scenario. Our response will be very clear, in the event [of a military threat], even if it is from somewhere else.” He acknowledged that there was a risk of the PKK creating a second safe haven for its militants in Syria, similar to northern Iraq. “I am of the opinion that those in charge in Syria will not make such a mistake. We will never tolerate such a thing. We will not allow it to happen. The current administration in Syria knows that. I doubt they will allow something like that to happen,” he said.
