BY MERVE YIGITCAN
Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUSIAD) President Simone Kaslowski said that Turkey’s becoming a center of attraction for asylum seekers and a border keeper for the European Union (EU) is against EU’s founding principles and should be renegotiated. TUSIAD supports democratic principles and norms, globalization based on free trade, and multilateral international security architecture based on the transatlantic alliance, he said at the first gathering of TUSIAD Global Politics Forum, established to address global political dynamics and foreign policy issues with an interdisciplinary perspective. “Deficiencies should be corrected and strengthened in this sense,” he said.
Being a part of a liberal democratic world order and values based on rules is vital for Turkey, said Kaslowski adding that Turkey should return to a rule-based foreign policy that does not depend on short-term exchange relationships and based on the values and principles of the republic. “The current relations with the West, specifically the EU, are no longer the bar for progress and reform for quite some time. For this, we think that Turkey’s design of a buffer zone against asylum seekers for the EU should come to an end with regard to migration, which is one of the most fundamental elements of the said exchange relationship,” Kaslowski added.
“The fact that Turkey has become a center of attraction for asylum seekers and a border guard of Europe is contrary to the goals of progress. This issue, which is also contrary to the founding principles of the EU, should be renegotiated. Restoring Turkey-EU relations in membership and integration perspective should be the main goal. In this way, it may be possible for Turkey to return to a foreign policy line based on principles and values.”
