EP GREENS HOLD CONFERENCE IN ISTANBUL

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis delivered a speech at the opening of the conference titled "Turkey in Europe" held by the Green / European Free Alliance Group in Istanbul.

Bagis stated that he was pleased for the support of the Greens to Turkey's EU accession process and continued: "Greens have been a good and faithful friend to Turkey for more than 20 years.

Pointing to the referendum made on September 12, Bagis said Turkey voted "Yes" for more democratisation and more human rights and the new Constitution would provide liberties necessary to ensure Turkey's EU accession.

Indicating that Turkey opened 13 Chapters to negotiations in its accession process, Bagis said that the Environment Chapter which had been opened to negotiations in December 2009 required a new legislative and technical infrastructure.

Stating that 17 Chapters were blocked due to political reasons, Bagis said that according to an investigation, Turkey would be able to open 14 Chapters to negotiations in 6 months and close 12 Chapters within 6-9 months in case the political obstacles were removed.

Bagis stated that such processes affected people's view on the EU negatively and continued: "Each Chapter takes us one more step closer to the EU, so we should not be blocked."

Source: AA