BAGIS “THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEMOCRACY AND THE ART”

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis met with Ali Güreli, Chairman of the Executive Board of “All Arts Istanbul” and Proffessor Hasan Bülent Kahraman, the General Coordinator.

In the meeting which was organized in the Ortaköy Office of the Ministry, Bagis stated that both Ali Güreli and Hasan Bülent Kahraman contributed greatly to Turkey’s becoming famous in the area of culture and arts. Noting the fact that he believed that there was a parallel link between modern arts and democracy, Bagis said: “ In countries where the democracy is developped, the modern arts is developped as well. Countries, whose democracies are not developped, might be very successful at traditional arts, but they can not be successful at modern arts. The efforts spent for the opening of “The Istanbul Modern” and “The Central Istanbul” Museums, are in fact the indicators of Turkey’s democratization, Turkey’s willingness to accelerate its EU accession process and again Turkey’s willingness to become a transparent and democratic country which is above the EU standards.”

Stating that Turkey would participate in the “Modern Art” festival as a guest country the week after, Bagis noted these: “It is very meaningful that this festival will be held in Madrid. During the period when Turkey went through the military coup in 1980, the lieutenant colonels were busting their national parliaments and were taking their deputies as hostages. Both countries, by carrying their democracies to a very different standard, can cooperate in modern arts. This situation emphasizes how Turkey gives importance to its EU accession process.” Thanking Bagis for his supports to the arts, Kahraman stated that such activities would make Istanbul the capital of culture and arts apart from being the capital of finance and tourism.