50 YEAR OF HISTORY OF TURKEY-EU RELATIONS “A LONG AND NARROW ROAD”

Under the cooperation of the Ministry for EU Affairs and Turkish Radio and Television Institution (TRT), the premiere of the introductory film of the documentary titled “A Long and Narrow Road: 50 Year History of Turkey and EU Relations” was held in Turkish National Agency.

Participants of the event included Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, Minister of Justice Sadullah Ergin, Deputy Chairman of Justice and Development Party Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Chairperson of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) Committee on Foreign Affairs Volkan Bozkır, Head of Turkey- Germany Interparliamentary Friendship Group Çağatay Kılıç , Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Bozer and Ambassadors of some EU member states, alongside the Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış.

In his speech for the premiere, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Bağış stated that Turkey had achieved a remarkable progress on EU accession process for the last 50 years. Reminding that Turgut Özal had given prospective warnings about difficulties to be gone through during this process, Bağış said: “EU Project, the largest democratization and peace project of history, is still a continental one. We have very significant contributions for globalizing this project.”

Bağış also added:

“The EU’s passive attitude towards the recent crises, especially in Syria and Egypt, clearly indicates that EU needs actors like Turkey. Not only have we gained a lot from this process, but also EU has itself. Thereafter, we will continue to focus on Turkey’s gains. Together we will take remarkable steps in raising the standards of our country.”

Noting that many reforms have been recorded in recent years, but these are not sufficient, Bağış expressed that democratization package to be announced by PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan next week would make noticeable inroads in Turkey’s EU accession process; however, this would not be satisfying enough. Bağış also added: “I have a hunch that we will want more after internalizing this package, because our people always demand and deserve the best.”

At the end of the night, Bağış thanked contributors to the documentary and presented them plaques.