Turkey’s chief EU negotiator and State Minister Egemen Bağış, while speaking at the Danish Institute for International Studies, recalled the economic crisis in Europe and the rapidly improving Turkish economy, saying, “Hold on Europe, Turkey is coming to rescue you.”
Bağış, who is paying a three-day visit to Denmark to explore possible areas of cooperation and explain Turkey’s EU bid, underlined that the Turkish economy is very dynamic and that Europe is in need of enlarging its market for European products and energy. He explained that Turkey with its young population is a good market for such products. He also added that Turkey has several reasonable expectations from Europe: abolishing visa requirements for Turkish citizens, further cooperation in fighting against terrorism, a more constructive attitude for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem and Turkey’s representation in European Council meetings.
He noted that so far 13 chapters are open in the negotiations but 18 of them have been blocked due to the Cyprus problem.
‘The European Union needs Turkey,’ State Minister Egemen Bağış tells his counterparts in Denmark, where he is visiting to hold talks with officials. He also reiterated Turkey’s demands to Europe, including abolishing visa requirements and further assistance in fighting terrorism
“Chapters on Energy, related to energy security specifically, and another chapter on Justice-Freedom-Security, related to asylum and illegal migration, which is where we need the highest level of cooperation, cannot be opened,” he said.
Regarding further cooperation on fighting terrorism he underlined that decisive, concrete steps by Europe against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorism can only contribute to and accelerate Turkey’s reform and further the democratic outreach process. “We need our allies to take a strong, vocal position on PKK terrorism. In this regard, we appreciate the judicial steps taken by Danish authorities against Roj TV,” Bağış stressed.
Bağış, in answer to a question about the privileged partnership offer — a proposal for a special arrangement falling short of full EU membership with Turkey, which was first proposed by Germany’s Christian Democrats and found the support of other right-wing politicians in Europe — said that they take it as an insult.
“It is an insult because it does not exist. If some of the member states give up full membership and become privileged partners then maybe we can start to discuss it, but it is immoral to offer Turkey privileged partnership,” he said.
Talking about the bilateral relations between Turkey and Denmark, he said that the relations date back to the 18th century and, as a consequence of that, there is the Turkish word, daniska, meaning “the best.” “We are hoping to bring Turkish-Danish relations to daniska,” he said.
While he was talking to a group of Turkish journalists, among them Today’s Zaman, Bağış said that, due to the presence of the PKK-affiliated Roj TV in Denmark and the cartoon crisis of 2005, when Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 editorial cartoons insulting the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, relations between the two countries did face some difficulties but that he hopes the situation will change. “Maybe we acted a little bit too emotionally and we were late in coming here. In our absence Denmark has been led against Turkey, but I hope that will start to change,” he said and added that he believes Turkey and Denmark can share and shape a common future, as they did in the past.
“We share a common history and culture, much more than most of the other countries in the EU,” he said. Bağış also met with members of the Danish Parliament Foreign Relations Committee as well as Minister of the Interior Bertel Haarder. Later, he participated in the opening ceremony of Turkish Films Week in Denmark.
Leave a Reply