Abdullah Gul Union Quotations

If the European Union decides not to keep its word, if its own leaders decide to forget their signatures beneath the decisions they've made before the ink has even dried ... if they decide to ignore all this and impose new conditions that Turkey will never accept ... then of course in that case this kind of partnership can never be.

We are sure of ourselves, and we know what we have to do, ... We will keep our promises, and we expect the European Union to keep its promises.

I trust the EU will overcome the skepticism which now exists within the Union (towards Turkey), ... We expect that those concerns of ours will be handled to mutual satisfaction.

It was only in December (2004) that European Union leaders agreed to open membership talks with Turkey on Oct. 3 (2005). Yet as the date looms, doubts over whether the talks will start keep recurring. This is not because of any fault of my government, but rather because of certain countries within the EU,