Ambassador : H.E.Mr.Murat Salim Esenli
Full name: Republic of Turkey
Population: 73.6million (UN, 2011)
Capital: Ankara
Largest city: Istanbul
Area: 779,452 sq km (300,948 sq miles)
Major language: Turkish
Major religion: Islam
Life expectancy: 72 years (men), 77 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: Turkish lira
Main exports: Clothing and textiles, fruit and vegetables, iron and steel, motor vehicles and machinery, fuels and oils
GNI per capita: US $9,890 (World Bank, 2010)
Internet domain: .tr
International dialling code: +90
 

Turks do not want to live in the EU any more 2012-06-23

 

 

Turks do not want to live in the EU any more

Turkey says next visa-free travel will work out well because Turks no longer want to live in the EU. Istanbul mall - the city is relatively rich. But in rural areas, around 10 % of people live in poverty

Its EU affairs minister Egemen Bagis told EUobserver on Friday (22 June) that Turks these days travel to Europe "to spend [money]" in EU shops and hotels.

"In the past, when Turks were asked do you want to live in Europe, 80 % would say Yes. Now, 85 % say No. Turkish citizens feel there is additional hope in Turkey, better job opportunities," he said.

He noted that in 2010, 27,000 Turks went to live in Germany, but 35,000 German citizens moved to Turkey. He added that "a lot of" of the 5.5 million Turks who live in the EU are considering going to Turkey to make a better life for themselves and their children.

Bagis spoke after EU nations before in the week agreed on plans leading to visa-free travel by 2014 or 2015. His comments are backed up by economic data, to an extent While the eurozone stumbles from crisis to deeper crisis, Turkey's GDP per capita has been galloping upward.

In the Ankara and Istanbul regions, it is already on par with Greece, former Communist EU nations and even parts of Spain and the UK. Looking over the border, the crisis has degraded Athens - three hotels in the central museum district closed in 2011 after an upsurge in street crime scared off guests.

Turkey is not just Istanbul and Ankara, however - in rural areas, around 10 % of people live on the equivalent of less than $4.30 a day. In return for the visa transaction, Turkey is to implement a "readmission" pact - additional measures for stopping migrants from as far afield as Pakistan or China sneaking into the EU.

Bagis said Turkey will create a 50,000-man-strong civilian border police, "humane" detention centres and "new fences."

Turkey currently stops 70,000 people a year trying to get into Greece or Bulgaria. The number "could easily double or triple" once the new measures are in place, the minister said.

Bagis noted that 30,000 Syrian refugees are being housed in eight camps in southeast Turkey. But Turkish soldiers and gendarmes are making sure they remain in place and that no weapons get through.

The EU visa transaction will as well see Turkey sign an "an operational co-operation agreement" with the EU's joint police body, Europol.

A statement by British MPs last year said Turkish-based organised crime groups are an increasing threat to EU security in terms of heroin and cocaine smuggling and human trafficking.

They said lack of intelligence-sharing, such as personal data on suspects, helps the gangs make hay.

By Andrew Rettman