|
The long period of accession talks between the European Union and Turkey will offer a “unique opportunity” for the EU, Armenians and Turks “to get to know and learn from one another,” according to the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC) that has welcomed the opening of the negotiations between Turkey and the bloc.
The talks ahead are likely to be difficult at times, the council admitted in a written statement yesterday, yet it highlighted that “the obvious reluctance of significant sections of the European public to envisage Turkey’s EU membership cannot be overcome through traditional diplomatic arm-wrestling of geo-political arguments.”
“Turkey does not seek to join the EU out of fear of rejection, but because it genuinely aspires to being part of the European project. We therefore look forward to seeing the Turkish government and Turkish civil society embrace their EU counterparts with self-confidence, and with a genuine aspiration of joining a human community spanning the European continent,” the statement said.
Bringing to mind that Armenians are a part of the European community, the council urged the Turkish government to “use this historic moment to reach out to the Armenian diaspora of the EU and generate goodwill among them.”
“Turkey must urgently engage with the Armenian diaspora and actively transform its relationship with them, just as the diaspora should now seek to engage with Turkey,” the council prompted both Ankara and the diaspora.
The TABDC was co-established on May 3, 1997 in Istanbul and in Yerevan as the first and only official link between the public and private sectors in each of the two countries’ communities. It is co-chaired by Arsen Ghazarian and Kaan Soyak.
The council explains its aim as further promoting and facilitating close cooperation between the Armenian and Turkish business circles, helping Armenian and Turkish companies streamline their operations and their lines of communications. It describes itself as “an intermediary vehicle to further promote a close cooperation.”
ANKARA – Turkish Daily News/Tuesday, October 11, 2005
© 2005 Dogan Daily News Inc. www.turkishdailynews.com.tr |
Akgün Medya