BAGIS SENT A REPLY LETTER TO THE ECONOMIST

AK Party Vice Chairman Egemen Bagis sent a reply letter to Economist regarding the article titled "The Worrying Tayyip Erdogan" published in the Economist and said: "No one can dare question 'Turkish dependability as a Western ally'.

Mentioning that the article titled "The Worrying Tayyip Erdogan" published in the Economist is in full contradiction with realities, Bagis continued:

"The relations between Turkey and the US have long been based on strategic partnership. For more than half a century by now, Turkey and the United States have enjoyed ever strengthening tangible cooperation based on shared values and mutual trust."

At the end of the reply letter sent by AK Party Vice Chairman Egemen Bagis, it is highlighted: "Last, but not the least, labeling the AK Party as Islamist is an indication of groundless categorizations. AK Party is not Islamist, but is a centrist conservative democrat political party located at the center of the political spectrum. I believe that points mentioned above are important in preserving the objectivity of your publication and should be printed as a correction of the aforementioned article."