Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-06-Speech-3-016"
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"en.19991006.1.3-016"2
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"Madam President, the terrible earthquake of 17 August took place in the very region of Turkey that has the highest per capita income. The three provinces in the disaster area account for no less than 17% of the country’s industrial production. One in every hundred workers in the region did not survive the earthquake. One in every four inhabitants lost relatives and their homes. Who in Europe could not feel pity for the victims of this disaster? There is no doubt that a helping hand was and continues to be provided. Indeed this is our moral duty from a Biblical point of view.
One of the offshoots of the disaster was a sudden change in the worldview of the Turks. The spontaneous assistance provided by their traditional arch enemies Greece and Armenia refuted the Turks saying that a Turk will only find friends among fellow countrymen.
The earthquake made people painfully aware of the great shortcomings of the ostensibly powerful state machinery in Turkey. Non-governmental organisations had their hour. Since then, calls for sweeping political and social reforms have been on the increase. These have come from people at all levels of society and even from President Demirel himself who only last Friday refrained from describing the Turkish constitution as democratic.
On the other hand, prominent representatives of the Turkish business community are suppressing these positive noises. They are not saying a word about the dangerous polarisation between state and society, whilst at the same time, the gulf between rich and poor is widening. The aforementioned industrialists are endeavouring to defuse this explosive situation by calling for people to join forces for a civilian society.
What attitude should the European Union adopt towards Turkey, a country at odds with itself? Certainly one that bears witness to genuine good neighbourliness, which includes providing political and economic support. Offering the prospect of membership of the European Union is not on the agenda yet though. In any case, we still await progress reports.
It is precisely Ankara’s unaltered, hard military line as regards the Kurdish question, notwithstanding the PKK’s request for dialogue and the fact that they gave up the armed struggle, that underlines how important it is for us to assess Turkey’s compliance with the accession criteria. The still unresolved question of Cyprus is another reason worth mentioning."@en1
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