REUTERS INTERVIEW: TURKEY IS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR THE ORIENT

Reuters reported an interview with the Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis in which he said that Turkey's challenging EU accession process was watched by the countries in the Balkans, Central Asia, and notably by those in the Middle East and North Africa struggling for change, as a shining example.

According to the report, Bagis also stated that people who are risking their lives in Syria, Tunisia and Egypt were demanding democracy, reform and human rights -- in other words, they desired to become like Turkey.

In the interview, referring to June 12 elections Bagis said that thanks in good part to a booming economy, and the dominant personality of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, the AK Party was sure to win the vote.

Speaking about the issue of civil constitution, Bagis said that a new constitution was needed to make a clean break with the one, essentially authoritarian in spirit, written in the aftermath of the 1980 military coup.

Bagis reminded that Spain and Portugal had gained EU admission after going through a similar change and he continued as follows: "Like Portugal, Spain and Greece, which applied for EU membership while still being administered under a military constitution, and later accelerated the accession process by adopting a civilian constitution we will too, after June 2011, adopt a constitution written by civilians and will take a notable step forward in the accession process."

Noting that through the reforms which bring Turkey in line with the EU norms, Erdogan has succeeded in making the military answerable to a civilian government, and old coup makers could face trial, Bagis indicated that adaptation to the EU standards was more important than accession to the European Union.