‘Turkey-EU marriage would be beneficial for all’

Omer Sabancı, chairman of the Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists’ Association (TUSIAD), told the Turkish Daily News in an exclusive interview that these two characteristics made Turkey an attractive country for European investment, which will work for the benefit of European countries once Turkey becomes a full member.
Opponents of Turkey’s EU entry portray the country’s 70-million-strong population and its location at the conjunction of the Middle East, Asia and Europe as obstacles, saying that it is too big for the bloc to absorb and that accepting it as a full member would mean expanding the EU borders to a troubled region.

The European leaders will meet on Dec. 17 to discuss Turkey’s 40-year-old quest to join the bloc and to decide whether to set a date for the start of its entry negotiations.
The talks are due to take at least 10 years. According to the European Commission’s October recommendation, the negotiations should be open-ended, with the possibility of suspension. Even those prospects, however, look far from quelling European concerns over Turkish entry.
The number of opponents to Turkey is increasing, and a German opposition suggestion that envisages granting Turkey a “privileged partnership” instead of full membership is gaining ground. Sabancı declined to comment on growing anti-Turkish sentiment in Europe.
“I wholeheartedly believe that a positive decision on Turkey will emerge on Dec. 17,” he said.
‘TUSIAD takes the lead’

Turkish government leaders and nongovernmental organizations have toured European capitals and hosted guests from member countries in a bid to ease European objections and ensure securing a green light from the EU.
Sabancı said TUSIAD had taken the lead in lobbying efforts at home and abroad. He said they had visited Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Dublin, The Hague and Vienna several times this year and had hosted the chairmen of similar organizations in İstanbul and Ankara.
“This is a collective campaign, and I think we have conducted it quite successfully,” he said.
During TUSIAD’s meetings in Washington and New York last month, Turkey’s EU bid was among the agenda items that were discussed. The association’s representative offices in Brussels, Berlin, Paris and Washington have also made efforts to drum up support for Ankara.
“In all the countries we visited, we held various meetings with our counterparts, meaning the TUSIADs of France, Spain, Austria and the Netherlands and Ireland,” said Sabancı.

The association put on seminars for European businessmen in EU capitals to explain why Turkey should become an EU member and to highlight the advantages of accepting it into the bloc.

“We told them (the participants) that this was going to be a marriage and that both sides would benefit from it,” he said.
‘Turkey to lure European investors’
According to the TUSIAD chairman, Turkey’s large population presented an attractive market for European investors provided that the economic stability of the country is sustained.

“Turkey is a 70-million-strong country; it is an unsatisfied market. We believe economic stability will be sustained, and so we can say that the purchasing power of the Turkish market, made up primarily of young people, will increase,” he said, adding that they had emphasized the attractiveness of the Turkish market in their talks.

In its contacts with European businessmen, TUSIAD also highlighted the importance of Turkey’s geographic location.
“In terms of location, Turkey is a suitable country for the investments of European companies, which can also use Turkey as a production base and export their products to neighboring areas,” said Sabancı.
“Turkey is a country of opportunity for the European business world,” he added.

TUSIAD’s efforts proved to be fruitful, leading to an umbrella organization for European business associations to twice over the past year throw its support behind Turkey’s EU bid. Sabancı said TUSIAD was planning a Dec. 10 seminar in Paris on Turkish-EU relations, which deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Şener was expected to attend.