Erdogan: EU is not the ‘only’ option

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in Dublin, Ireland, preparing to participate in the European Union (EU) Enlargement ceremony that will be held later today. Erdogan is expected to make a case for Turkey to begin membership discussions with the E.U.; however, he announced last night that the E.U. is not Turkey’s ‘only’ option.

In a speech he gave last night addressed to the Union, Erdogan said that if the E.U. wants to prove that it is based on a ‘system of values’ it has no other option but to reward Turkey’s sincere efforts. "Otherwise, Turkey will certainly find another way to walk towards the future with the values it represents," Erdogan warned.

A ‘Thank you’ to George W. Bush; A message of ‘understanding’ to Putin

The Prime Minister highlighted that the real struggle starts now and described the advantage in hand as, "one of the greatest diplomatic achievements in recent history".

Meanwhile, Erdogan made phone calls to U.S. President, George W. Bush, and Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Erdogan thanked Bush for the strong U.S. support in Cyprus said that it is time for Turkish Cypriots to unite with the world. Within that perspective Erdogan believes that U.S. support for redressing the grievances of Cypriot Turks will continue.

On the other side, Erdogan reminded Putin about the ‘strong and special’ relations between Russia and Turkey. The Turkish Prime Minister requested that the Russians not punish the Turkish Cypriots because of the Greek Cypriots’ refusal of unification in the April 24 referenda. Erdogan added that Turkey is counting on the support of Russia in the United Nations (UN) Security Council.