WE WANT A FAIR NEGOTIATION PROCESS

66th Meeting of Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission was held in Hatay with the participation of Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis, Minister of Justice Sadullah Ergin, Minister of State Cevdet Yılmaz and Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission Co-Presidents Lutfi Elvan and Helena Flautre.

In his speech at the Ottoman Palace, Bagis emphasized that Turkey had never taken steps for an indefinite and vague process and said:

"Turkey will not take steps for such a process in the future, either. Therefore, we cannot accept imaginary proposals, artificial agendas towards Turkey. It must be clear that Turkey will never give in to double standards or injustice".

Stating that Turkey had carried out significant work in the EU process for the last eight years, Bagis said: "We are aware of the fact that there are some circles within the EU who wish to stand apart from Turkey while we try to come close to the EU. We will resist every possible action and move which will exclude Turkey from the EU process.

Bagis reiterated the expectations of Turkey from the EU and the European institutions and mentioned five main issues, namely a fair negotiation process, visa facility, solution for the Cyprus issue, sincere cooperation in fight against terrorism and invitation of Turkey to the EU summit meetings.

Source: AA