"THERE IS NO OTHER TURKEY"

 Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis made statements regarding the agenda of Turkey and on issues such as "Democratic opening" initiative, EU membership process and Nabucco project.

 Indicating that the most important principle of AK Party was to exalt the human being and that if the human being was exalted the state would also be exalted, Bagis said that the problems had to be resolved in the standards of brotherhood, unity and solidarity and he continued his speech saying:

"Thanks to this opening, damned terror won't exist any longer. Polarization among people will come to an end. Some called efforts to stop the bloodshed ‘the act of treachery'. I say ‘May God reform them.' Preserving our unitary structure, we will continue to do what we know right in the name of peace and brotherhood in this country. We will solve this problem together just as we solved chronic problems of Turkey. We need prayers and contributions of each of you."

Bagis noted that they worked on the issue of democratic opening under the rules of law and in cooperation with all the legal institutions, political parties, chambers and think tanks in Turkey and that this was a very important process for the comfort and peace of Turkey.

Stressing that in this context nobody had the right to manipulate their own views, Bagis said, "I hope that we will be able to overcome these problems through our belief that now we all are brothers in Turkey and we all have the common right to live in high standards in a more modern country and in a common future. I invite everyone in Turkey to contribute to this process."

Indicating that difficulties experienced by some citizens who tried to express themselves in different languages and in different religions in various periods were no new difficulties, Bagis stated that much progress was made in the last 8 years in the name of democratisation and development.

Bagis said, "Today as a country which has a leading position in the world economy, while we are making an effort to deal with certain sensitivities of ours and to resolve our problems, we are doing it not for the reason that some other country or union wants us to do so; on the contrary we are doing it in order to give our own citizens their right to live more happily, to raise the standards of our country, to promote peace in our country, to prevent further bloodshed in our country and to ensure that mothers don't cry any more, that is to say, we are taking necessary steps for our internal peace as our Prime Minister has also cleary stated. Because there is no other Turkey to go."

Pointing out that Turkey was not only a candidate country to the EU but it also continued negotiations with the EU and that at the same time it served the General Secretariat of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Bagis stated that Turkey was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council after a 47-year interval receiving support from 151 out of every 192 voting countries and that it co-chaired the Alliance of Civilizations Project.

Stating that Turkey's relations with the EU had started in 1959 with the application of Adnan Menderes, Bagis said that a date for the negotiations had been determined on 17 December with the attempts of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul. Bagis also emphasized that President Abdullah Gul had started the negotiations in 2005 acting as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Bagis stated that, before AK Party came to power, there had been problems in the EU process due to the wrong attitudes of the governments and the coups. Bagis said: "Important steps have been taken. AK Party's Government is proceeding in this way with determination."

Emphasizing the role of the EU process in the increase of foreign capital and per capita income in Turkey, Bagis noted that EU was not only the common enthusiasm of AK Party but also the whole Turkey.

Stating that when the secret behind the success attained was observed, "humanity" was came through, Bagis noted these:

"While we are paving the way for EU, while we are struggling for Turkish people in order to enable them to attain the standards they deserve, it is for sure that, we are realising these because of the humanity we feel inside. Otherwise, we are not realising any of the reforms in order to please the Europeans. We are realising them in order to please our citizens, in order to furnish them with more contemporary living conditions and with more democracy. We are realising these for a stronger freedom of expression and human rights."

Bagis emphasized that Prime Minister Erdogan had brought together the offended leaders in the world and that he had exerted efforts to conciliate the countries which were about to go into a war with each other and that he had brought together Afghanistan and Pakistan while acting as a mediator between Israel and Syria, Russia and Georgia. Bagis also stated that Prime Minister Erdogan had carried out the co-presidency of the Alliance of Civilizations while carrying Turkey to the membership of UN Security Council. Bagis highlighted the fact that all these works had been realized as a result of deep humanity.

Drawing attention to the fact that Nabucco project was an important development for Turkey, Bagis noted that Nabucco was a good example in terms of laying down the reality that Turkey was a country which found out solutions to the problems of the EU and he added that the project was an important step towards going beyond the energy crisis which was one of the leading problems of the EU.

Bagis emphasized that Nabucco was not only a pipe line project but also a project of stability and peace and he also added that 3 thousand kilometres of the 5 thousand kilometres long project was passing through Turkey.Resource: AA