EGEMEN BAGIS RESPONDS TO WSJ

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis responded to Wall Street Journal as regards Taksim Gezi Park incidents.

Bagis criticized the European Parliament’s resolution against Turkey upon the protests which began with the claim that the trees at Gezi Park were to be cut off and he stated that some of the statements made and the resolution issued by the Parliament were out of line and really out of touch.

“I am really trying to understand where this criticism comes from”, said Bagis and emphasized that the Prime Minister had tried to establish a dialogue with demonstrators even from the first day, spent more than 4,5 hours in a meeting representatives of the demonstrators and tried to really comprehend them. Reminding that Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc met with the members of the board of the Taksim Platform, Bagis pointed that the members of the European Parliament did not make such calls when there were examples of police brutality in their own countries.

Expressing that some countries feel disturbed by Turkey’s development, Bagis noted:

“I hear some politicians making calls to freeze relations with Turkey. That would create a very bad atmosphere here. Such a reaction would be very harmful not only for Turkey but also to the interests of the members of the European Union. I think that some cannot digest the fact that Turkey is growing. Turkey today has the most progressive, self-confident, and reformist government in Europe, and Prime Minister Erdogan is the most popular leader in Europe.”

In response to the question “Why wouldn’t someone want Turkey to grow?”, Bagis said “Because in the old days, when the inflation and the interest rates were very high in Turkey, some groups were making too much money on the money that Turkey was borrowing. Now they can’t. And that may be bothering them.”

When asked about whether police would be punished for the excessive use of force, Bagis said that three police officers were suspended and they had started an investigation on other incidents of police brutality. Bagis emphasized that Minister of Internal Affairs Muammer Guler, himself, were personally following these investigations and would report to the parliament of the results.

Upon the question as regards the style of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Bagis said:

“The Prime Minister’s style has not changed in the last twelve years. This is the style that gave him 35 per cent of the votes in 2002, that increased the votes to 47 per cent in 2007 and to 50 per cent in 2011. His style is his style. But he does care about his people. He is by far the most successful Prime Minister of this country. He has given more individual rights to the people than any other Prime Minister in the history of this country. He is not restricting people’s right to consume alcohol. He is telling that it’s not good for them. He is setting an example by not consuming any himself. But people are free to do whatever they want. Personally, I think they don’t understand our Prime Minister. I have worked closely with him during the last twelve years. I know he is deeply in love with his people. And he has dedicated himself to the people, even to those who don’t like him.”

In response to the question how all those protests will end, Bagis said “This is not the first time Tayyip Erdogan is managing a crisis. His whole political career is built on crisis management. And every crisis has made him stronger. And I am sure that the Prime Minister will come out of this crisis even stronger than before.”