Turkish president says it will be disadvantageous for EU to block Turkey's negotiation process

-ANKARA (A.A) - Turkey's president said on Tuesday that it would be disadvantageous for the European Union (EU) to block Turkey's negotiation process. President Abdullah Gul said Turkey had fulfilled EU's economic criteria, Maastricht criteria, better than many EU member states. "It will be disadvantageous for the EU to block Turkey's negotiation process," Gul told a joint press conference with Hungarian President Pal Schmitt in Ankara. Schmitt is the first Hungarian president visiting Turkey in nine years.  Gul thanked Hungary for supporting Turkey's membership bid when it held the rotating presidency of the union, and defined the negotiation process as a technical process. "There are circles who derail this technical process and add artificial, political issues. This neither suits to EU's laws nor the promises made," Gul said. Gul said it was contrary to EU's fundamental principles not to abide by the signatures, and said the EU might not open negotiations on monetary, competition and economy chapters however Turkey had fulfilled Maastricht criteria better than many EU member states. "Turkey's debt burden is 40 percent, Maastricht criteria is 60 percent. Turkey's budget deficit is 2.5 percent, Maastricht criteria is 3 percent," he said. Gul said Turkey's borrowing interest was lower than that of many EU states, and when the rating of many EU countries was going down, Turkey was the only country upgrading its rating for three times consecutively despite global economic crisis. Moreover, Gul said Turkey and Hungary were friends and allies, and had strong relations, adding that the 2 billion USD of trade volume indicated a bigger trade potential between the two countries.