"European religious leaders support Turkey's EU bid
Aydin: Turkey's EU membership is to be one of the best ways to prevent a possible clash of civilizations
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
European religious leaders supported Turkey's EU bid saying that Turkey's EU membership would bring major developments for the EU itself, reported Anatolia news agency yesterday.
Religious Affairs Directorate Deputy Chairman Mehmet Gormez who attended the European Religious Leaders Summit in Belgium earlier this week, said the summit yielded strong support for Turkey's EU membership.
'We are to set a date on December 17 for Turkey to start negotiations; get ready for that,' the religious leaders said during the summit, Gormez told Anatolia. 'They said that Turkey, whose membership was discussed, has improved itself with legal arrangements and would lead to major developments in the EU,' Gormez was quoted as saying by Anatolia.
The European leaders said in the fact sheet of the summit, that Turkey was the first EU candidate country which was Muslim. They condemned the murders and violence that were committed in the name of religion recently. 'Violence in the name of religion is violence against religion,' the leaders said.
State Minister Mehmet Aydin said religion was never handled as a basic principle for the foundation or functioning of the EU. Aydin, speaking to the governing Justice and Development Party's (AKP) bulletin, said the EU was actually an economic and political process and Europe considered Turkey's EU membership as a cultural matter.
'If there is a possibility of the clash of civilizations, one of the best ways to prevent it would be Turkey's participation in the EU,' Anatolia quoted Aydin as saying.
Turkey's EU bid has led to domestic debates in EU member countries and debates heated up following the EU Commission's Progress Report issued on Oct. 6. The commission recommended that the EU Council make a decision at the upcoming Brussels summit to open entry talks with Ankara. The debates focused on whether Turkey had a European identity with its huge Muslim dominated population of 70 million."
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