Ankara, 11/05/2000 (Agence Europe) - As reported in EUROPE of 10 May (page 8), Turkey celebrated Europe Day this year for the first time since obtaining the status of applicant country. The festivities were particularly solemn on this occasion, as this year marked the 50th anniversary of the Schumann Declaration. Outgoing Turkish President Mr Demirel stated that Turkey "wholeheartedly believes in the idea of creating an integrated Europe that shall rise on the foundations of the partnership amongst countries sharing the same democratic values and ideals", and he recalled that, back in 1967, when he was Prime Minister, he told the Association Council meeting in Brussels that, for Turkey, "the European Economic Community means a genuine success of the democratic order".
Mr Demirel went on to state in his remarks that the European identity "should in no way be based on religion", but on values like democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law and it should be developed in parallel with a struggle against religious and ethnic discrimination, racism and xenophobia. "We are in the process of transforming the national consensus on EU accession into a national mobilisation", affirmed Mr Demirel, noting that, in the future, the word "harmonisation" would be the "key word we shall use to describe our relations with the EU". The process of harmonisation is comparable to a long-distance race, and what counts in this situation is to keep running without interruption, but it is also important not to fall behind the other countries.
Mr Demirel, who admitted that Turkey must overcome its shortcomings in democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law, also issued an appeal to his country, stating: "Full membership of the European Union is a choice we have made by our own free will. No one can make us a full member of the European Union by force. Therefore, we must rid ourselves of the dilemma of trying to become a full member, on the one hand, and of feeling that we are succumbing to foreign pressure for reforms we must adopt, on the other."