Roger Helmer, member of European Parliament from the British Conservative Party, deplored Hague’s statement, saying, “British voters will not stand for Turkish membership -- nor will other EU states,” the UK’s Mirror daily reported on Sunday.
“We should also see the value of Turkey’s future membership in the EU in this light. Turkey is Europe’s biggest emerging economy and a good example of a country developing a new role and new links for itself, partly on top of and partly outside of existing structures and alliances, and is highly active in the Western Balkans, the wider Middle East and Central Asia,” Hague said while speaking at London’s Foreign Office on Thursday, which drew the ire of many Euro-skeptic Tories.
Hague said Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu will visit Britain next week as London seeks to improve its ties with Ankara.
Observers say that the newly elected conservative government of the UK will remain undeterred in advocating Turkey’s EU membership, yet concerns over tight immigration laws facing Turkish immigrants remain highly debated. Mirror daily reported that the row between Hague and some Tories comes days after Home Secretary Theresa May announced a plan to cap the number of non-EU migrants.
Announcement of increased engagement with Turkey follows the criticism of British foreign policy by Hague, who vowed to woo allies neglected in London’s rush to cozy up to the White House, promising a sweeping overhaul of the country’s “patchy” foreign policy.
