“TURKEY’S STEPS TOWARDS DEMOCRATIZATION SHOULD BE A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION”

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis attended the 9th Round Table Meeting organised by the Economy and Foreign Policy Research Centre (EDAM) in Bodrum. Bagis said he hoped that Turkey’s steps towards democratization would be a source of inspiration for the countries in their region.

Bagis made a statement after the closed door meeting and indicated that they had the opportunity to express the negative effects of the obstacles created by the EU to Turkey’s accession process on the Turkish community. Bagis stated they had addressed in the meeting the reflections of problems such as Islamophobia, in Turkey and Turkey’s potential contributions to the EU. Bagis said: “We tried to express that Turkey would not be a burden to Europe but lessen the burden of it and Turkey’s accession to the EU would enlarge the European pie and each country would get a bigger slice. New and interesting ideas were put forward in the meeting.”

Bagis also made a point about the Democratization Package. He said that almost all the responses received from Europe were positive and this also proves the determination of the government to reach the EU standards. Bagis continued as follows: “The indicators which show that the Package will be put into force as soon as possible have proved Turkey’s determination on this issue. Ours is the most reformist and determined government in the history of the republic and we are determined to increase the standards of democracy in Turkey. As the Prime minister says, this would neither be the first nor the last package. I hope Turkey’s steps towards democratization would set a good example for the countries in our region.