REFORMS ARE REALIZED FOR THE FUTURE OF TURKISH NATION

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis stated that Turkey braced itself to become a full member of the EU and he said: ''No steps were taken at the disadvantage of Turkey, only because the ‘EU asks for’”.

In his speech at the meeting of TGNA Plan and Budget Committee for the budget of the Ministry for EU Affairs Bagis said that 2012 had been a year when critical developments had occurred in a geographical area covering both Turkey and the EU, and when Turkey’s global importance had increased, and the power had strengthened.

Bagis emphasized that all these developments had proved the strategical importance of Turkey-EU relations not only for the parties but also for the international society. He declared that the financial crisis continuing for 3 years was turning into an economic, political and social crisis.

Bagis pointed that the EU Member States were questioning the future of the EU, and in Turkey, the accession process was being questioned because of the long negotiation process and political blockages against Turkey, and accordingly, this had caused a decrease in the EU’s credibility before the Turkish nation. Bagis continued his words as follows:

''Our government takes each step within the framework of the harmonization with the EU, by evaluating its benefit in terms of improving our citizen’s rights and freedoms, welfare and living standards. 'No steps were taken at the disadvantage of Turkey, only because the ‘EU asks for’. By means of the reforms realized in this process, scope of the individual rights and freedoms of our citizens has been widened; values which are the sine qua non of contemporary democracies like transparency, accountability and participative approach have become a part of our daily life.

In his speech, Bagis also mentioned Cyprus issue, Positive Agenda, and visa exemption. He recalled that the “Draft Road Map for Turkey on Visa Exemption” prepared by the European Commission had been submitted to the Council on 20 July 2012. Bagis said: “As you know, Turkey wants to simultaneously realize the Readmission Agreement and the visa exemption. With our decisiveness, our principled attitude and rightfulness, we will obtain visa exemption which is our final objective and we will end the suffering lived while getting visas.”

Source: AA