Participating online in the Second Century Economics Congress held by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality with the theme of “Invitation to Conscience”, Prof. Dr. Timothy Garton Ash touched upon the strategic importance of Turkey. Pointing out that Turkey is a great and independent power, Ash said, “Every direction is good if you know which way to go is a very good saying. We need to know which direction to go, as we did when the Republic was founded a hundred years ago.”

Historian-author Professor of European Studies at Oxford University. Dr. Timothy Garton Ash attended the Second Century Economics Congress online, organized by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality with the theme of “Invitation to Conscience”. Timothy Garton Ash, referring to the survey they conducted for many countries in his speech titled “Turkey in the History of the Present”, said, “In the survey, we asked which countries were close to real democracy. This rate was 54 percent in India and 77 percent in China. When we look at Turkey, there was only 37 percent. The results for Turkey and India are interesting. We see new forces emerging. Both countries have histories as great powers. When we look at these, we define Turkey as a great power.”

Stunning survey results
Timothy Garton Ash, who stated that according to the survey, 73 percent of the citizens in Turkey responded that the European Union is a necessary partner, said:
“Again, 65 percent said the United States was an ally or a necessary partner. A lesser figure was given for England. It turned out that 55 percent of China is an ally. Surprisingly, 69 percent said Russia was a necessary partner. When we look at Russia and alliance, it’s the same with the USA. On one side are Russia and China. Here, regarding the elections Turkey made a century ago; I hope he will be able to make similar choices this summer. I think Turkey is an independent power. Atatürk says, ‘We are more like ourselves than anyone else’. When we look at it from the western point of view; there is a national interest. This way we can say that they are aligned. We see this in the democratic world, in NATO, but we can also say it in close relations with the EU.”

Turkey connects with the west
prof. Dr. Timothy Garton Ash continued his speech: “The EU has restructured itself. We’re not just talking about the West, the Balkans here. We are talking about the situation after 1989. Strategic partnership, close relationship needs to be established with the EU. When we look at the world when it is considered geostrategically, we see that the super-powered China has emerged. Here we see the great power India, South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia. Geostrategically, we can see that Turkey is connected with the West. At this point, we can say that Turkey is a large and independent power, it is a part of NATO, and it has a strong strategic partnership with the EU. As in Turkey’s century ago, when the republic was founded, there is a saying, “Actually, if you know which way to go, any road is good”. That’s a very good word. We need to know which way to go.”

Source: (BYZHA) – Beyaz News Agency