71th TURKEY-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE MEETING

Participating in the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee Meeting which was held at the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis made speech in the opening session. 

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis honored the opening session in which the issue of “Turkey-EU Relations: The State of Play in the Accession Negotiations” was discussed. Ambassador of Ireland Kenneth Thompson on behalf of EU Presidency and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey Jean-Maurice Ripert representing European Commission also attended the session.

In his speech during the meeting, Bagis said “We look the EU process from the perspective of reform and we never index the process to the political obstacles that we face. Reminding that Turkey has been preparing its own development report, Bagis said:

“This report is Turkey’s challenge to the twisted minds that abuse both our EU process and values of European Union.  It is our incontestable right to desire these reforms to be reflected on the official negotiation process. We tried to tell what we had done in one year just in 270 pages; whereas, we couldn’t open even a chapter to negotiations in 2.5 years. Our Prime Minister’s organization of luncheon meeting on Monday, which he had paused for a long time due to the blockages in the process, was Turkey’s message of determination. In addition to our determination, we also gave the message of our expectations for that there will be advancements in the negotiations during Ireland’s EU Presidency.”

“New Constitution within the Framework of Fundamental Rights and Freedom” was discussed in the second session which was hold after the luncheon that was given by Bagis in honor of the participants. The meeting will eventuate in the session which will be held on 15th February 2013.