THE AGENDA IS DEMOCRACY

Participating in the program "The agenda is democracy" broadcasted on Kanalturk channel, Minister for EU Affairs and the Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis answered the questions of the journalists.

Upon being reminded that the speech of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was criticised by some people, Bagis stated that the Prime Minister had explained his views quite clearly and he said: "That is the way Europeans understand, some of the things should be explained clearly." Saying that the wording of Prime Minister Erdogan was not criticised by the West, but on the contrary, the severest reactions came from the opposition party, Bagis said that some people were discontent that the Prime Minister of Turkey responded with such great self-confidence.

Regarding the questions related to the problems in the judiciary, noting that everybody agreed on the necessity of making reforms in the judiciary, Bagis said that all segments should contribute to the process.

Bagis, pointed out that the opposition party hadn't contributed to the Constitutional amendment package and stated that an opposition party said that they would not even negotiate on that issue.

Speaking about the EU accession process, Bagis stated that, according to the surveys, 62 percent of Turkish people were saying "yes" to becoming a member to the EU and 67 percent of them did not believe that Turkey would be a member to the EU. Bagis noted that 73 percent of Turkish people did not believe that the EU accession process had increased the level of economy, democracy and human rights.

Bagis wished the process of general elections would pass in the atmosphere of political maturity.