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 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". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Mirzoyan says meeting with Bayramov was “constructive” At the moment, Ararat Mirzoyan said, there is no basis for additional comments. OSCE vows support for Armenia “in all three directions of security” Achieving stable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains a priority of the OSCE, said Ian Borg. 151 detained as civil disobedience campaigns continue in Yerevan Citizens have been blocking streets in the Armenian capital, demanding Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation. France welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan meeting in Almaty France has welcomed the new round of negotiations between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. |