TURKEY'S EXPECTATIONS FROM ISRAEL ARE CLEAR AND OBVIOUS

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis received European Parliament (EP) member Emine Bozkurt at his office in Ankara. Upon a question on Turkish-Israeli relations, Bagis stated that the present situation in relations with Israel wouldn't affect Turkey's EU process and emphasized that Turkey's expectations from Israel were very clear and obvious.

Receiving European Parliament (EP) member Emine Bozkurt who is holding talks in Turkey concerning the report she prepared on women's rights at the Ministry for EU Affairs, Bagis noted that Bozkurt was going to draw up a report on women's rights in Turkey in the recent period. Indicating that Turkey freed itself from lots of bad practices in the EU process, Bagis stated that they would continue to fight against social problems such as honour killing and domestic violence which must be taken into account and fought against.

Upon a question asking if relations with Israel would affect Turkey's EU membership process, Bagis said, "Israel isn't a member state of the European Union. Therefore it is out of the question that it could have a direct effect on Turkey's EU process."

Noting that Turkey's relations with Israel still went on even at second secretary level, Bagis emphasized that their expectations from Israel were very clear and obvious.

Emphasizing that Israel must apologize, pay compensation to the families of people who lost their lives and put an end to the illegal embargo it emposes on Gaza, Bagis said, "These are very clear expectations laid down by Turkey. When Israel meets these expectations, our relations will normalize."

Source: AA