EUSC: "INTRODUCTORY MEETING FOR EU COUNTRIES"

Under the framework of European Union Communication Strategy, a meeting was held at the Secretariat General for EU Affairs' Ortakoy Office with the participation of Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis and Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertugrul Gunay. Delivering a speech after the meeting, Bagis said they came together with Gunay to discuss Turkey's new strategy of introduction to EU countries.

Minister Bagis stated that they have made a principle decision to more frequently stress the possible messages regarding Turkey's EU membership and said "We evaluated some concepts related to the EU and how we can better inform our citizens about the EU."

Bagis said that as the Ministry, they determined a new communication strategy and that Ministry of Culture and Tourism participated in the consultation and execution committee of these works and was one of the most active members of the process.

Emphasizing that the main topic of the meeting was ‘to make a joint decision between the two ministries regarding introductiın strategies', Bagis said "We made a principle decision to more frequently stress the possible messages regarding Turkey's EU membership in future introduction works of Turkey. We evaluated some concepts related to EU and how we can better inform our citizens aboutthe EU. The experts of two Ministries are assigned the task of preparing the protocol to be signed."

Egemen Bagis stated that, they would sign a protocol with the Minister of Culture and Tourism after the experts completed the preparation works. Bagis also said, in the meeting, he had the opportunity to discuss the recent developments regarding environment and education chapters with Minister Gunay.

Pointing out that they exchanged views on how the EU theme could be used in the competitions such as caricature, arts, documentary and film held by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Minister Bagis said "We discussed how the factors serving to the EU negotiations could be used in the introduction of Turkey. We found out that we are of the same opinion on these issues."

Indicating that Turkey is pleased with new success stories, Bagis said that winning an award at Berlin Film Fest, the film ‘Bal' (Honey) made Turkey proud and that he and Gunay called and congratulated director Semih Kaplanoglu.

State Minister Bagis said that great support and determination of Ministry of Culture and Tourism laid behind the success of Turkish cinema in the world.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertugrul Gunay said they held a positive meeting in terms of supporting Turkey's EU process and they worked to attain a transparent and participative democracy for Turkey.

Source: AA