TURKEY IS A UNIQUE COUNTRY THAT CAN DEVELOP RELATIONS SIMOULTANEOUSLY BOTH WITH THE EAST AND THE WEST

In his speech at the dinner in the Kandilli Cemile Sultan Wood given by Omer Abamor -AK Party Candidate for Atasehir Mayor-, Egemen Bagis -Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator- talked about the international relations and EU policy of the AK Party government.

Stating that when they came into power, EU had a history of 43 years Bagis, reminded that he took over the EU negotiations at the 50th anniversary of the first application to EEC in 1959 by Adnan Menderes.

Bagis also declared that the negotiation process was not that long for none of the countries. He added that "for 43 years, some people said that 'the road to EU passes through Diyarbakir', or some said that 'one day our population will be over 70 million and then we will push them strongly'. Some said that 'EU is a long, narrow path but we should proceed patiently'. Some were offended to EU. Some launched coups. These led to break downs in EU relations".

Bagis reminded that in 2005 when the negotiations with the EU started, Turkey took the responsibility for the Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and he added that Turkey is a unique country that can develop relations simultaneously both with the east and the west.

Bagis stated that improvement in the trade among Turkey and Russia and other neighbours was achieved in the 7 year period of AK Party government and he also added that:

"If Syria which used to support terrorism turned to become a country to consign the terrorist to us… If Iran, which we have been competing over a thousand years, began to regard Turkey as a mediating country for its communication with the world… If after 47 years, Turkey can take the vote of eight out of 10, which is 152 votes of 191 countries from various continents, different ethnic origins or of various religions, for the membership of United Nations Security Council, these all are the results of the 7 year hard work".

Egemen Bagis stated that EU is a project to unite each person in the society from various ethnic origins, with different professional experiences and educational backgrounds. He also reported that "Everybody can feel himself a part of the EU Project. Everyone including the soldiers, the civil, the Kurdish, the Circassian, the Laz, the Turkoman, Alewis, Sunnis, Muslims, Jews, Christians, women, men, the young and the old do expect something from the EU project."

Bagis stated that within this framework they dedicated themselves to work closely with constitutional institutions, opposing parties, non-governmental organisations and universities. He added that they witnessed that local administrations play an important role in EU in this process.

Bagis emphasized that one of the most important function of the EU is to gather the local administrations under a roof; he continued that:

"EU provides important funds for the municipalities. Our municipalities have the capability to use them for the right projects. I believe that with Omer Abamor we can achieve many things for Atasehir by benefiting from EU funds. He is aware of the potential in Atasehir. I believe that with him we will succeed in many things, and thus remind people the governing mentality of AK Party and prove what we can achieve a lot with this mentality".