President of Turkey Abdullah Gül says Turkey might not be willing to join the EU club. "If the negotiation process is successfully concluded the French and the Austrians will go to a referendum and will say “yes” or “no” to Turkey. But maybe, on that day, Turkey will say “Thanks, but NO, we have decided to follow a different way,” he said Oct. 9 in Paris at the conference “French-Turkish Partnership: To be Stronger in Europe and the World”, TRT informs.

The message was mostly addressed to France which has been skeptical about Turkey’s membership in EU. Gül underlines that Turkey becoming a stronger country is also in the interest of France and EU.

“Indeed, you want strong partners. The tasks you can accomplish with a weak partner are limited. This is the reason of our insistence on EU membership, because the process is refreshing Turkey and carrying us to EU standards. Turkey will do what’s necessary by herself. We don’t have any requests from other countries. We just say ‘Let us improve ourselves.’ Do not consider Turkey as a 71 million population. Turkey has a larger hinterland. You can reach out to Middle East, Caucasus, Central Asia and Russia easily via Turkey,” he said.

French Economy, Labor and Industry Minister Christine Lagarde stated Turkey has seen a rapid growth in recent years and became an important actor in the global economy.

State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said Europe can become a “real global power” with Turkey being included in the club, TRT informs.