Turkey in front of a choice: to fulfill EU standards or to become a "Third World country"June 7, 2007 - 16:10 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey will be relegated to a "Third World country" status unless it applies European Union standards of democracy and the rule of law, its chief EU negotiator, Minister of Economy Ali Babacan stated. Babacan made what sounded like a veiled warning to the EU candidate country's powerful military and secular judicial establishment after 6 weeks of political turmoil over the election of a new president. "The events of the last month-and-a-half show how important Turkey and the European Union are for each other," Babacan said. "If there is no benchmark and if we think that each country has its own peculiar conditions and our democracy is specific to us, if we say we have the rule of law but sometimes we can do things outside of that, such approaches will condemn Turkey to be a "Third World country" for decades and decades," Babacan told a conference on EU-Turkey energy cooperation, Reuters reports. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Ucom Celebrates Telecommunication Day May 17 commemorates the founding of the International Telecommunication Union on May 17, 1865. Armenian, Azerbaijani heads of parliament meet in Switzerland President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. Border residents overnight on highway to protest Armenia’s Residents of Kirants continue to express outrage over the government’s decision to cede land to Azerbaijan. Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. |