MAY 9, EUROPE DAY CELEBRATED

May 9, Europe Day was celebrated with a series of festivities held in Ankara Youth Park with the participation of European Union Delegation to Turkey and under the auspices of Ministry for EU Affairs and Ankara Metropolitan Municipality.

The opening ceremony of the program was attended by Egemen Bagis, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator,  Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean Maurice Ripert, Head of the European Union Delegation to Turkey, Kamil Kılıç, Secretary General of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality,  Ali Goksin,  Deputy Mayor of  Ankara Metropolitan Municipality as well as a great number of bureaucrats and metropolitans.

In his speech addressing the people of Ankara as the host of the festival, Minister Bagis celebrated the Europe Day and stated that the EU process had brought benefits to Turkey, which thus had become more democratic and transparent. Stressing that Turkey had been proceeding towards the west for a thousand years; Minister Bagis asserted that Turkey would have become the third biggest economy of Europe by 2023.

“The Turks were European even in their worst era in history”, said Minister Bagis, adding that Turkey, enjoying its most prosperous and modern times, had become an inspiration in its region during the implementation of reforms. He also stressed out that the positive agenda was not an alternative to the accession negotiations.

As part of the festival, public institutions and administrations, European countries, representatives from 81 provinces and a great deal of non-governmental organisations opened their booths beginning from the early hours; events like music concerts and backgammon tournaments were performed, which were followed by sound, light and music shows at night.

Source: http://www.abgs.gov.tr/index.php?p=47624&l=1