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TURKEY: EU NEGOTIATOR, TODAY WE ARE MORE DEMOCRATIC
ANSA Med
February 1, 2012 Wednesday 5:05 PM CET
Italy
No genocide of Armenians, Minister Bagis in Doha
(ANSAmed) Turkey's European Affairs Minister and chief negotiator for
EU accession, Egemen Bagis, has said that "today Turkey is wealthier,
more democratic and more transparent thanks to the reforms imposed
by the European Union," adding that "the reform process required
to enter the Union is more important than the final result." Bagis,
talking during a conference in the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar,
discussed the questions that currently keep Turkey out of the EU,
including the issue of admitting the Armenian genocide now that
France has passed a law that criminalises denying the event. "What
happened in 1915 cannot be called a genocide in my view, anyway I
was not there in 1915," said Bagis.
"I am a politician, my task is to define the future, not the past," he
added. Asked whether he believes the fact that Turkey would add around
80 million Muslims to the EU is an obstacle to the country's accession,
Bagis said that "the European Union is not a club of Christians,
it is political union, the largest union for peace in the world. So
this is not a problem, also because Turkey is broadly secularised."
Bagis concluded his speech with a historical diplomatic incident. He
said that the word "Europe" has Turkish origins, annoying the Greek
ambassador to Qatar, Helen-Elsa Zorbala: "Europa was one of the lovers
of Zeus in Greek mythology, everybody knows that!", the Greek diplomat
pointed out.
From: A. Papazian
ANSA Med
February 1, 2012 Wednesday 5:05 PM CET
Italy
No genocide of Armenians, Minister Bagis in Doha
(ANSAmed) Turkey's European Affairs Minister and chief negotiator for
EU accession, Egemen Bagis, has said that "today Turkey is wealthier,
more democratic and more transparent thanks to the reforms imposed
by the European Union," adding that "the reform process required
to enter the Union is more important than the final result." Bagis,
talking during a conference in the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar,
discussed the questions that currently keep Turkey out of the EU,
including the issue of admitting the Armenian genocide now that
France has passed a law that criminalises denying the event. "What
happened in 1915 cannot be called a genocide in my view, anyway I
was not there in 1915," said Bagis.
"I am a politician, my task is to define the future, not the past," he
added. Asked whether he believes the fact that Turkey would add around
80 million Muslims to the EU is an obstacle to the country's accession,
Bagis said that "the European Union is not a club of Christians,
it is political union, the largest union for peace in the world. So
this is not a problem, also because Turkey is broadly secularised."
Bagis concluded his speech with a historical diplomatic incident. He
said that the word "Europe" has Turkish origins, annoying the Greek
ambassador to Qatar, Helen-Elsa Zorbala: "Europa was one of the lovers
of Zeus in Greek mythology, everybody knows that!", the Greek diplomat
pointed out.
From: A. Papazian