On February 25, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is arriving in Ankara for a short visit. Meetings with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan are on visit agenda.

As Sarkozy noted in an interview with well-know Turkish journalist Mehmet Ali Birand, a wish to keep Turkey outside the European Union is explained by Turkey’s place in the region and the international community.

“Turkey is a big country. It’s a bridge between the East and the West; a country that has an irreplaceable role since it connects two different worlds. This role, which today’s world needs more than ever, cannot be played by any other country. That means Turkey is still an unparalleled country.

For this reason, I believe it is necessary to have close ties between Turkey and the European Union as much as possible without going any further for full membership, which in fact could be beneficial for neither Turkey nor the EU. I am not trying to insult anyone by expressing this idea,” the French President said, noting that Turkey belongs with the Middle East rather than the EU.

As the President stressed in an interview published in Hurriyet Daily News, ongoing EU-Turkey negotiations are an instrument to maintain the depth in relations.