President Gül shared his belief during his address at the Turkey-Germany Business Forum that the future of Turkey and Germany, two countries with historic friendship and great cooperation today, will be very bright and robust.
President Abdullah Gül and President Christian Wulff attended the Turkey-Germany Business Forum held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel during which they each delivered a speech.
TURKEY AND GERMANY: HISTORIC ALLIES
The President, at the beginning of his address, pointed to the importance of being bilingual and suggested that both Turkish and German administrations urge the Turkish community in this regard.
Declaring Turkey and Germany to be historic allies, President Gül said the two countries are one of the few nations that have never fought each other in the world, indicating that the responsibility falling on them is to create new cooperation areas standing on this affirmative and robust ground.
The first trade agreement between the two countries were signed in 1840, when 42 % of Turkey’s total foreign trade was conducted with Germany, the President informed his audience and he said today, Turkey’s biggest trade partner is the same country again, which he said demonstrates Turkish-German relations are not temporary nor are they conjectural.
The President, further pointing to the political, legal and economic reforms made in Turkey in the last decade, noted that Turkey today is much more advanced than some EU countries in terms of infrastructure and economy, continuing: “I am proud to observe that today there are two healthy economies of Europe: Germany and Turkey. When you examine the figures, you will agree with me. The EU is in a crisis today. Why is that? This is crystal clear as a matter of fact. They suffer from incredible indebtedness. There are countries in Europe with debt constituting 100% or even 120 % of their GNP. It applies to the interest rates as well.”
The President then stated that Turkey’s budget deficit is 2.8%, which he said is even below the Maastricht Criteria and further noted that its debt burden is 40 % and debt interest is 8 %. In Turkey, he averred, the unemployment rate has been lowered due to its fast growth, pointing to the great cooperation opportunities Turkey and Germany should seize.
INVESTMENTS IN SOLAR ENERGY
The President continued his speech with the following words: “The energy sector is of great importance to us as Turkey is entirely dependent on import of oil and natural gas, which is why we attach great significance to the alternative energy including the solar energy. We are well aware of the huge investments Germany make in this area even though its solar energy potential is only one fourth of that Turkey has. I believe we can work together in this area.”
NEW AREAS FOR INVESTMENT
President Gül, recalling that he along with President Wulff laid the foundation of the Turkish-German University which will commence its first academic term next year, predicted that it will be one of Germany’s best universities and he urged the businessmen from both countries to display efforts for this university to be successful. The President, further referring to some 35 billion dollars of the turnover the Turkish companies have reached in Germany, shared his belief that they have huge potential to create further areas for cooperation.
Referring to the Hejaz Railway and the Haydarpaşa Train Station built by both Turkey and Germany, the President also mentioned some huge projects to connect China to Turkey and reach the Gulf countries via Istanbul. These projects, he said, might interest German investors.
TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP
The President further underscored the significance of keeping the promises the EU countries have made regarding the accession negotiation process between Turkey and the EU, saying: “We can discuss the full membership when the time has come. If Turkey is a value for Europe, then the EU countries and their peoples say yes to its admission, if not, we will respect such a decision as well, but slowing down or even ceasing the negotiation process is not an act of sincerity and it offends us indeed.”
President Gül later extended his thanks to Germany for its support regarding Turkey’s accession talks with the EU and recalled chapters were opened the most during Germany’s EU term presidency.
After the two President’s addresses, they were presented a book entitled ‘Zirvedekiler’ (Those at the Top) that tells of the accomplished Turkish people from different circles.
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