[20/December/2004] Al-Thawrh , the leading national daily, its editorial came out under the headline The European Summit - And The Gulf Summit.

The paper talked about the European summit which wrapped up its activities yesterday in Brussels and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit which kicks-off today the Bahraini capital Al-Manama . It stated that the EU summit recommendations, concluded yesterday in Brussels, with respect to the Turkey accession to the EU have already made it clear that the EU member states are heading for the accomplishment of their Union without excluding any country in the continent from the membership.

The Summit's outcomes also have reflected the nations tendency to make up great blocs can cope with the international challenges in the 21st century. Said the editorial.

The paper went on saying the media came out with a comparison between the EU summit and Turkey accession and the Gulf summit and Yemen's membership in the GCC. The rich countries of the EU had eventually provided their poor neighbors with the needed assistance to improve their economies so as to meet the required conditions of the EU membership.

Yemen, for its part, is very keen on joining to the GCC, thereby it had managed to get ride of several obstacles, such as border disputes with both the Saudi Arabia and Oman. So , it has actually paved the way to the GCC membership.

Al-Thaw rah concluded its comment saying there is no reason to make a comparison between Turkey accession to the EU and Yemen,s to the GCC, because Yemen has got a very deep rooted relations with the GCC member states.Hence,it is very natural to be a member of the GCC, besides that its accession will be useful for Yemen and the Gulf states.
SABA