"NONE OF THE COUNTRIES PASSED THROUGH EU PROCESS WEAKENED OR DIVIDED, ON THE CONTRARY THEY STRENGTHENED"

Egemen Bagis, Minister for EU Affairs and the Chief Negotiator stated that none of the countries passed through EU process weakened or divided, on the contrary both their economy and democracy and also human rights in these countries strengthened.

Within the scope of Besiktas visiting, Minister Bagis together with Justice and Development Party Besiktas Province Chairman Ibrahim Yıldırım visited Besiktas Governor Saadettin Yucel.

Answering the questions of the journalists, as a respond of the question: "We have observed that the West highlights the fact that Turkey has taken serious steps in order not to become a country of coups in the process of EU accession. How would you interpret the precision of the West on this issue?" Bagis explained as follows:

"Turkey is a highly important country for both west and east. For this reason, Turkey is being watched closely not only by the west but also by the countries all over the world. If Turkey has been elected to the United Nations Security Council after a period of 47 years with 152 votes from 191 voting countries and if Turkey has initiated the negotiations with the EU after waiting for 45 years while, at the same time, assuming the Secretariat General of Organization of the Islamic Conference and carrying out the co-presidency of the Alliance of Civilizations then, at this point, it would be true to state that Turkey is a global actor. Turkey is a key actor in the world. If we can act as an arbitrator between Afghanistan and Pakistan and at the same time contribute to the reconciliation of Russia and Georgia and if we can be a remedy to the problems of the world, then, it would again be correct to say that Turkey has already reached several standards."

Bagis emphasized that Turkey, which is among G-20 countries manipulating the world's economy, is the world's 17th and Europe's 6th largest economy.

Stating that Turkey's large capital was the young generation, Bagis continued his speech as follows:

"Turkey has the 4th biggest labour force in Europe. This sets forth that we have a very strong potential in the long term. It is certain that the entire world is following Turkey's mentioned process. Highly important steps were taken for democratization in Turkey. Turkey is not a country anymore in which the presidents were executed after the military coups as it happened 50 years ago.

Turkey is a country in which "coup" is regarded as a negative concept and turning back to those years is never mentioned. Books of Kafka and Dostoyevsky which are literary classics are not being collected or burned as it happened 30 years ago. Turkey has reached the democratic standards and is no more a country in which the mayor of our biggest city was imprisoned 10 years ago, because he read a poem from a textbook."

Stating that common struggles had been exerted in order to develop Turkey which is the common ground of everyone, Bagis said: "EU also made great contributions in this process. None of the countries that passed through EU process weakened or divided, on the contrary their economy, democracy and human rights strengthened. Turkey is also going this process."

Indicating that jurists were examining the issue of re-opening of Halki Seminary, Bagis said: "It should be considered as a domestic affair. Problem of every Turkish citizen is also our problem regardless of their ethnicity and religion. We seek for a solution in the framework of our own Constitution and laws in order to solve this problem. "

Upon a question of a journalist asking "An important project connecting Europe with Middle East is passing through Turkey. What kind of a historical role will Nabucco play in the EU process of Turkey?" Bagis noted these:

"Nabucco is one of the examples which presents that Turkey is a country which finds solutions for EU problems. Today Europe's one of the leading problems is energy crisis. Nabucco is a very important step in terms of finding out a solution to the energy crisis. It is not only a pipe line project, but also a very important peace and stability project. 3 kilometers of the 5 kilometers long pipeline is passing through Turkey. It is a fact that Turkey has an important strategic position on energy issue like many other issues due to its geographic position between energy sources and the regions that need energy. If you list all the leading problems of Europe, 80 % of them can be solved with Turkey's integration."

Pointing out that experiences gained in Bakü-Tbilisi-Ceyhan would be revealed in Nabucco, Bagis said: "Maybe after 10 years there will be need for several Nabuccos".

Resource: AA