EUROPE NEEDS TO DISCUSS ITS TABOOS

The seminar titled "Turkey's Role in Rising Network World" which was organized by ‘Global Strategy Forum' took place in House of Lords in London with the participation of Egemen Bagis, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator.

Speaking at the seminar, Bagis said that Turkey was no longer the sick man of Europe and it discussed its sensitive issues and taboos and added "It is time for Europe to leave aside its taboos and discuss such issues."

At the seminar where Turkey's role in its region and in the world and its relations with Britain and the EU, State Minister Bagis delivered a speech titled "Turkey's Developing Foreign Policy: View from Ankara". Bagis stated that Turkey implemented remarkable reforms, turned into a more democratic and prosperous country where the human rights are better compared to the past and that Turkey' economy has developed.

Bagis emphasized that Turkey had the 6th biggest economy and 4th biggest labor force of Europe and added "Turkey is shining for solving many problems of Europe, especially while looking from London."

Pointing out that Turkey tried to assume an important role in a hard geography, Bagis said that Turkey was the only country trying to mediate between Israel and Syria, Russia and Georgia, Afghanistan and Pakistan at the same time. Bagis said Turkey was the most Eastern part of the West and the most Western part of the East and pointed that Turkish financial system was strong despite the global economic crises.

Stating that Turkey would gain a lot with the EU accession and that it was a ‘win-win' situation; Bagis said "Turkey has never been as European, prosperous and democratic as now. I am not claiming that Turkey is perfect, but it is in a much better position than the past. We have started to dialogue with different groups for the first time. The Armenian citizens, Kurds, women, workers all have a direct dialogue with the government. We have started to diagnosis some of our problems. In the past we were ignoring or hiding our problems. Now we are trying to solve them."

Emphasizing Turkey's determination about EU process, Bagis said "Turkey's membership would bring a new dynamism for the issues encountered by Europe."

AK Party Deputy Chairman Kursad Tuzmen, Parliamentary Adjustment Commission Chairman Yasar Yakis, AK Party Foreign Relations Deputy Chairman Suat Kiniklioglu, AK Party deputy and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) Nursuna Memecan and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Foreign Policy Chief Adviser Ibrahim Kalin have also attended the seminar.

Source: AA