European Union invites Turkey to join European Defense Agency

The EU is not against Turkey joining  the European Defense Agency.
“The EU joining NATO is much more important than joining the UN,"
Portuguese diplomat Joao Vale de Almeida told the Lisbon Institute for
International Relations, 1news.az reports, with reference to the
Turkish news agency SolHaber.

According to him, for this plan to be realised it is necessary to
achieve a resolution on the Cyprus issue between Turkey and the EU.

"Turkey has the second largest army in NATO, so her voice in this
organization is very significant. It is expected that at the
forthcoming NATO summit, to be held in November 22-23 in Lisbon, the
secretary-general of the Alliance, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, will launch
an initiative for the inclusion of Turkey as a full member the
European Defense Agency. We note that among the European countries
only Denmark is not a part of this agency and the accession of Turkey
to this structure will only increase its influence in the European
security system," the Portuguese diplomat said.

Joao Vale de Almeida is the main candidate to be the EU's first
ambassador to the United States.