The official recognition of Turkey's candidate status for full-membership to the European Union is a landmark event not only for Europe, but for the world as well. This candidacy, and in due time, full-membership to the European Union is Turkey's birthright by virtue of Turkey's historical development, its geography, and its present day attributes as well as the provisions of the 1963 Association Agreement.

Moreover, for the last four years, Turkey has been the only country to have effected a customs union with the European Union without becoming a full member.

The declaration of Turkey as a candidate country on an equal-footing with other candidate countries in an unequivocal manner and with clarity is a positive development.

Thereby, the road to full-membership for Turkey is opened.

Turkey, through NATO has contributed to the security of Europe and the West as a whole throughout the decades of Cold War. It carried the heavy economic burden of this responsible role with a great sense of duty. Following the end of the Cold War and the demise of the bi-polar world, the geo-strategic importance of Turkey has further expanded and grown. And, Turkey became a pivotal country in the Eurasian process.

The Bosphorus bridges do not only straddle the two sides of Ystanbul but they also unite the continents of Europe and Asia. And this, not only in geographic terms, but in the political and cultural senses of the word as well.

The Turks have been Europeans for 600 years. But the Turks are not only Europeans. They are also Asian, Caucasian and Middle Eastern at once. Turkey is a power in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea basins and the Balkans. It is becoming the energy terminal where the gas and oil riches of the Caspian Basin and the Caucasus will be transported to world markets.

As such, it is living testimony to the interaction between Europe and Asia and the confluence of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Turkey, is the leader country in democracy and secularism among the countries having a majority of Muslim population. It epitomizes vividly the fallacy of the thoughts that underline the thesis of Rudyard Kipling, who said that the East and the West would never meet; and those who think like Mr. Samuel Huntington that the clash of civilizations is inevitable.

These are precisely why, Turkey's membership to the European Union is not just to the benefit of Turkey, but to the Union as well.

I am well aware that we have some ground to cover in further raising the standards in the fields of human rights and democracy, as well as remedying a number of shortcomings in our economy. Separatist terrorism which has continued for a long time bears the prime responsibility in this regard. The high and heavy cost we incurred during the long decades of the Cold War in ensuring the security and prosperity of the West, the Balkans, and the Caucasus also played a part.

Yet, whatever the negative effects of such external factors may be, surmounting our deficiencies is primarily our own task and responsibility.

Indeed, during the six and a half months that elapsed after our three-party coalition government took office, we took far-reaching strides in expanding human rights and democracy in Turkey and in improving our economic performance. By way of examples, I wish to cite the following:

· Through a constitutional amendment, the members of the State Security Courts are to be chosen solely from amongst civilian judges and prosecutors.
· Again by amending the Constitution we have recognized international arbitration and facilitated privatization. By the end of the year we will complete the necessary legislation that these amendments entail.
· We have taken necessary measures to prevent every kind of mistreatment.
· We have adopted the legislation rendering the civil servants accountable before courts for any of their offences.
· We have taken effective measures to combat organized crime.
· We have freed on parole convicted writers and journalists.
· We have passed a repentance law for those involved in separatist terrorism.
· Through a new legislative arrangement we have rendered more difficult the closure of political parties.
· We have enacted a comprehensive tax reform.
· We have adopted a new legislation reforming our social security system.
· We have introduced an extensive reform through a new customs law.
· We have taken legislative action to strengthen and streamline our response to natural disasters.
· We have prepared a new civil code that will further enhance gender equality.

These are only a few examples of what our government has achieved in the way of extensive reforms during the past six and a half months.

On the other hand, we have started to take necessary measures to dampen chronic high inflation and to decrease as fast as we can the high interest rates. We already observe the positive results of these measures.

Within a short span of time such as six and a half months, we have also been trying to heal the heavy wounds caused by successive earthquake disasters.

In this context, I would like to express with gratitude our appreciation of the support and assistance provided by the international community as a whole and by the EU member states.

These important strides that we were able to achieve in a short span of time not only reflect the harmony and the determination that prevails in our government, but also the propensity and the quest of the Turkish people to change and modernization.

Some members of the European Union may think that it will take many years for Turkey to become a full-member. But, I am convinced that given the dynamism of the Turkish people and their attachment to democracy, we will achieve this objective in a far shorter period.

This will of course require the bona fide and sustained efforts of the part of both Turkey and the EU regarding the responsibilities and obligations they have thus assumed.

I hope that the decision of the EU Council may serve the high interests of Turkey, the European Union, and indeed, humanity itself.