"EU membership for Turkey "will boost bloc's political power"
Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot: "As the goal of the operation is [for Turkey] to become a full member of the EU I think that with a little goodwill we will get there"
Turkish membership of the European Union will help Europe become a formidable political power in a globalized world, Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told an interviewer.
�If you want to count in a globalized world I believe it is important to have considerable weight in terms of population, military capacity and economic capacity. Turkey will contribute to this political power we must become�, Bot argued.
European Union leaders agreed last month to open accession talks with Turkey in October 2005. Although the talks will not necessarily end in EU membership, Bot said he felt there was a �good chance� Ankara would join the union.
�As the goal of the operation is [for Turkey] to become a full member of the EU I think that with a little goodwill we will get there�.
Faced with the booming economy of China and India and other Asian countries as well as the United States, the European Union �wants to change its economic might into political power. If Europe shows that it is united, we can make things happen�. "
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