Less than 35% of Turkey's population favor country's EU process

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turks have forgotten about Europe. No developments were observed for quite a long time, and likelihood for EU integration diminishes by every day, said Turkish expert Jengiz Aktar. As shown by survey results, the country's EU process is supported by less than 35% of its population. The main reason is that the idea that Europe doesn't need them, as mentioned by European top leaders. «Angela Merkel initially favored 'privileged relations ' with Turkey, which implies that the country cannot be a full member,» said International Crisis Group analyst Hue Pop. «In 2007, that idea was carried on by President Sarkozy.» As seen in August survey, Turks consider France a threat to their country's interests, and only 0.64% of respondents find Germany to be a friendly state.



«Turkey's EU process remains a primary goal for premier Recep-Tayyip Erdogan's party. That's mostly reflected in the following statement: Justice and Development party is disappointed to see what EU got in return for its efforts,» ABC newspaper reports. The publication contains quotation from the statement of Gürsel Tekin, one of Turkish opposition leaders, who claimed that Europeans dictated Turks what to do and how and received Turkish society's negative response. Many Turkish inhabitants find that their country doesn't have to «lose its national sovereignty» and make other sacrifices to become an EU member. They find «historical prejudices» and «religious cultural differences» to be the main impediment to the country's EU integration. «If EU specified a concrete date, Turks would favor EU process again,» Tekin finds. But that is unlikely to happen in the near future.