Post-Summit Preparation

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his colleagues are quite optimistic about the future, so they are currently working on a ‘post-summit plan,’ one including a nationwide campaign to educate the public about EU norms and regulations. According to high-level officials, the closer Turkey gets to the EU, the more difficult Ankara’s tasks become. We will have to conform to and embrace countless criteria covering a wide range of areas, from health and agriculture to education and the environment. Therefore, Ankara will have to assign numerous expert teams with specific tasks in order to fully implement its reform packages. More importantly, the Turkish nation will have to understand that it has already entered a period of radical transformation during which it will have to digest many changes and cast aside its old habits and weaknesses. In this respect, it is both necessary and useful to plan the post-summit period. Our society should know what it will have to face in the future and prepare for it…

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s address to the United Nations General Assembly last week proved Turkey’s determination to undertake important roles in the international community. Gul laid out Ankara’s stances on such key issues as the Middle East peace process, terrorism, and racism, underlining the intermediary role that Turkey is ready to play between the West and the world of Islam. Along these lines, he called on the UN to give Turkey a seat on the Security Council in 2009-10.

As a matter of fact, now there are a host of reasons for the UN to take Gul’s call seriously. Turkey is becoming a ‘hub’ country, drawing the world’s attention to its efforts and roles on the international stage. Our country is signaling that it’s ready and resolved to do more in the future.”