«EU membership remains a strategic objective» says Turkish MP

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs of Turkey, a deputy of the ruling Justice and Development Party, Volkan Bozkır, gave an interview during a visit to Berlin to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The MP said that Turkey's EU membership remains a strategic objective. «We want EU membership, because we want to have a high European standards in the field of democracy, human rights, the environment and public health and control of food,» the deputy said.

According Bozkır, the active policy of Turkey in the Arab region observed in recent years cannot be interpreted as the republic backtraching from Europe. «This is our complementary policy. Turkey does not act in the region as a "big brother" or with any neo-Ottoman ambitions. Due to the large number of changes in the region, such as Libya, Egypt and Iraq, many countries are looking at the Turkish Constitution, especially regarding the balance between the military and politicians,» Bozkır said.

Adapted from: Vestnik Kavkaza