400th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH THE NETHERLANDS

Paying a visit to Netherlands with the President Abdullah Gul within the framework of the 400th year celebrations in the diplomatic relations between Netherlands and Turkey, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis, met with Maxime Verhagen, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation of Netherlands, in a press meeting.

Emphasizing that Netherlands is one of the countries that understands best the importance of Turkey for the EU in a long term, Egemen Bagis stated that a date for the negotiations was determined for Turkey in 2004 when Netherlands was holding the term presidency. Bagis said that Turkey would continue the negotiatons which started in 2004 with determination and noted that that was quite important for both the EU and Turkey.

Bagis said: “They are inspired by Turkey’s enrichment process when Turkey’s democratization process is taken into consideration. What makes Turkey different from other countries is its democracy and the EU reform process which renders Turkey more powerful each passing day. I believe that Netherlands will fight against unfair visa regime imposed on Turkish citizens. It is also my belief that, with the contributions of the Netherlands, Europe will bring to an end the unfairness regarding the visa issue and I hope that the Netherlands will lead the way regarding the exemption of the visas implemented for the Turkish citizens.”

Bagis delivered a speech in the meeting which was hosted by the Netherlands – Turkey Businessmen Foundation and in which Turkish private sector delegation headed by M. Rifat Hisarciklioglu, the chairman of Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges met with 600 Turkish entrepreneurs settled in Europe. In his speech, Bagis emphasized that they had brought forward the visa regime imposed on Turkish citizens for years and added that during their visit, this issue was first brought forth by the Netherlands. Underlining the fact that Turkey’s position on the issue was for visa exemptions, Bagis stated that this was a result of Turkey’s increasing economic power and interactions.

Minister Bagis was a member of the delegation that accompanied President Abdullah Gul.

Source: CHA, AA