Europe

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the EU on the occasion of Europe Day, APA reports.

"Today is the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Schuman Declaration, which brought to life the idea of a European Union. Since 1999, when our candidate status to the European Union was officialized, we have been celebrating “9 MayEurope Day” in our country together with all European peoples.

The ideas behind the Schuman Declaration had ensured the rebirth of Europe from its own ashes after a war that tore apart the whole world and the gathering together of countries for peace, security, development and welfare, casting aside their differences and animosities. Today once again we are facing a destructive calamity. This time our common enemy is a virus that knows no borders; that threatens not only our health but also our welfare, social order, and humane ties. This tiny enemy invisible to the eye has reminded us once again the meaning of “being united”, being strong in unity, which we have risked to forget in the recent period; which we became ready to sacrifice for populist policies and short-term national interests.

We must not forget that each calamity brings along opportunities. I believe that the European Union will also come out of this crisis stronger with the right and timely steps that they will take. I fully believe that better days will be with us when the language of discrimination and hatred is cast aside; when the common interest of our Europe is not sacrificed for petit political games or national interests; when we are inclusive and just. Ahead of us lie tough days: we will focus heavily on combatting the pandemic, economic recovery in the post-pandemic period, steering the developments that impact on our continent as well as fighting irregular migration and terror.

We must make good use of the opportunities these tough days will present in order to revitalize the Turkey-EU relations. I hope that the EU, which has assumed a discriminative and exclusionist attitude towards our country on various issues to this date, has now understood that we are all on the same boat. During the pandemic, we have seen that various EU Member States asked for help from our country, and that with her healthcare system and the measures she has taken, our country is at a level, which can set an example for many EU Member States and candidate countries. The participation of Turkey --a candidate for EU membership, negotiating [country], a part of the Customs Union, one of EU’s most important trade and investment partners-- in all the measures and efforts that the Union will be taking during the course of, and following the pandemic, will render the EU nothing but stronger.

It is time for uniting our forces in every area. Apart from economic, political, security-wise and social contributions, the full membership of our country will bring a more participative and a more embracing vision to the European Union, and will turn it into a global actor. As Turkey, we are determined to attain full membership in the European Union, which we deem as our strategic objective in spite of all the hardships we run into during the negotiation process.

With these thoughts in mind, I wish for the “Europe Day” to be conducive to an assessment of the current situation of our continent and the plans for its future through a constructive and visionary approach, and I congratulate the 9 May Europe Day of all Europeans, and notably my citizens," the message reads.

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