Turkey follows 'active diplomacy for global peace', Turkish FM says

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday, "we must have a very active diplomacy everywhere so Turkey can contribute to regional and global peace."

Before completing his two-day formal visit to Ireland, Davutoglu spoke to "Irish Times" newspaper, and said, "Turkey's traditional strategic relations like the EU and NATO are the backbone of Turkish foreign policy; with that backbone we must have a very active diplomacy everywhere so Turkey can contribute to regional and global peace."

"Our integration into the EU is a strategic, historical choice of the Turkish nation, and it will continue. Our active involvement in other regions is an asset to our relations with the EU, rather than an alternative to the EU," he said.

Noting that no other candidate country had faced political problems Turkey had faced, Davutoglu said, "Turkish people are really disappointed. There was huge enthusiasm for Turkish EU integration. In spite of all these difficulties, the government has full determination to continue."

Regarding the approval of the resolution on 1915 incidents at the U.S. House of Representatives Committee of Foreign Affairs, Davutoglu said, "we were expecting a much more influential intervention by the White House."

"Of course, the US is our strategic ally, but we cannot accept any insult to our nation through such a process, which is not serious but just addressing the local political context of certain members of congress," he stressed.

Regarding regional problems, Davutoglu said that Ankara was working very hard to solve the problems.


/World Bulletin/