Prof. Dr. Timothy Garton Ash, participating online in the 2nd Century Economics Congress organized by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality with the theme "Invitation to Conscience, touched upon the strategic importance of Turkey. Indicating that Turkey is a great and independent power, Ash said, “Every direction is good if you know which way to go” is a meaningful statement. As it was when the Republic was founded a hundred years ago, We need to know which way to go.”
The Professor of European Studies, the historian-author at Oxford University, Timothy GartonAsh ; participated online in the 2nd Century Economics Congress organized by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality with the theme of "Invitation to Conscience". In his speech titled "Turkey in Today's History," Timothy GartonAsh referred to the research they had done for many countries and stated: “In the inquiry, we enquired which countries have closer to real democracy. In India, this rate is 54 percent, In China, it is 77 percent. When we have examined Turkey, there has been only 37 percent. The results for Turkey and India are intriguing. We see that  new forces emerge. . Both countries have histories as great powers. When we look at these, we define Turkey as a great power.”
Conspicuous Survey Results
According to the report,Timothy Garton Ash stated that the 73 percent of Turkish citizens believe the EU is a vital co - partner. He explained the followings ;
“Again, the 65 percent said the United States has an ally or necessary co- partner. A lower rate has emerged for the UK. The 55 percent of China concluded that it is an ally. Surprisingly, the 69 percent has said Russia is a necessary co –partner. When we look at Russia and the alliance, it is the same with the USA. There are Russia and China on one side . Here, regarding the elections made by Turkey a century ago; I hope it will be able to made similar elections this summer. I think Turkey has an independent power. . Atatürk says 'We are more like ourselves than anyone else'. When we look at it from a western perspective; there is a national profit. We can say that they are aligned in this way. We see it in the democratic world, in NATO but  but we can say this in affiliations with the EU.
Turkey associates with the West.
In the continuation of his speech ; Prof. Dr. Timothy Garton Ash said that “The EU has restructured itself. We're not just mentioning about the West, the Balkans here. We are referring to the situation after 1989. The Strategic association, close relationship with EU are required. When it is thought in terms of geostrategic , when we look at the world, we see the emergence of super-powered China. Here , we see the great power of India, South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia. Geostrategically, we can see that Turkey is united with the west. Turkey is a great and independent power at this point. We can speak of  being a part of NATO and establishing a strong strategic association with the EU. There is a statement for Turkey, a hundred years ago, when the republic was founded  , "Any road is good if you know which way to go". This is a very meaningful statement. We need to know which way to go.