"Envoy touts Turkey's changing direction
Cites commitment to EU's conditions
By James C. Helicke, Associated Press | December 20, 2004
ISTANBUL -- The European Union's decision to start membership talks with Turkey gives the Muslim country a new position in Europe and the Islamic world, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday.
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The EU made its decision despite widespread public misgivings in Europe about welcoming a poor, densely populated Muslim nation into the bloc. The talks are to start in October.
'Turkey is a very different country than two days ago,' Gul told supporters in Ankara. 'We sense this inside Turkey. You see this when we're together with all our neighbors. You see this in Europe. In all the Muslim countries, in Arab countries, in the Caucasus, Turkey's position has changed.
'The important issue is that Turkey's direction has become definite. Turkey has entered a period of permanent stability.'"
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