4th BOSPORUS SUMMIT

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis participated to the 4th Bosporus Summit titled as “Middle East and Central Africa in Sustainable Global Competition”, which was held in Istanbul by the International Cooperation Platform and hosted by Turkish Exporters Assembly under the auspices of Presidency.

Minister Bagis stating that there were no other city than Istanbul as a starting point in starting out in order to to create an economic, commercial, political and cultural cooperation platform, said “The Bosporus which has been the center of the world trade for centuries has brought the supply and demand together as well as the continents.  Today, 75 % of the energy resources needed by the EU to which we try to join are either in the north or south or east of Turkey. So, in order to access these energy resources, Europe has to either increase the cooperation with Turkey or invent mobile energy transmission line. Therefore, the location of Turkey is significant. The center which will re-develop the dynamism of world economy and create new development paradigms is Turkey, it is Istanbul.”

Egemen Bagis, indicating that Turkey had had significant developments during the last 11 years since it could change its own national paradigms, said “If the country which was previously considered as “sick man” by Europe is the focus of solution of Europe today, this is because of the changing paradigms. This is the result of the fact that the understanding of “state for the nation” moved ahead of the understanding of “nation for the state”. This is the result of the understanding which was created by adopting real democracy and by making policies within the framework of the real expectations and real sensitiveness of the nation.”