European commissioner says EU sees Turkey as family member

ANKARA (A.A) - February 9, 2012 - The European commissioner for international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response said on Thursday that the European Union (EU) saw Turkey as a family member. Kristalina Georgieva said the assistance EU had made after two earthquakes that hit the eastern province of Van indicated that it saw Turkey as part of the European family. The assistance the EU had made after the Van earthquakes indicated that it saw Turkey as a family member and it cared about Turkey, Georgieva told AA correspondent in an exclusive interview. Georgieva said EU had initiated establishment of tents for quake survivors at first, and then made 4 million Euro assistance for construction of temporary dwellings. Temporary dwellings were sheltering more than 1,000 people in Van, Georgieva said. The commissioner said she would visit Van together with Turkey's EU Minister Egemen Bagis on Friday Georgieva said Turkey had made generous assistance to several regions in the world which were affected negatively by natural disasters, and she was personally affected by Turkey's generous assistance to Somalia. Turkey and EU could reach regions affected by natural disasters either under the umbrella of the United Nations (UN), or Turkey could be included to the civil defense mechanism established with the EU against natural disasters, Georgieva said.   Georgieva said thus, they could work in a more coordinated way against natural resources. The commissioner said the civil defense mechanism had 31 members, including 27 EU member states, and Macedonia would become a member soon. Georgieva suggested that Turkey should join joint exercises of the mechanism before becoming a member and then decide whether or not to join.