In Vilnius to meet with top members of the Lithuanian administration, including the president, prime minister, minister of foreign affairs, deputy parliament speaker and other deputies, Bağış responded to a question over Islamophobia in Europe by recalling another question he fielded from a student at the Vilnius University political science faculty. “There was a question from a student over whether Turkey would become a member of the EU, and whether if it did, would this Islamicize Europe. I said then we would not be able to change one another; that neither would Europe change our religion nor we theirs, that there was no such intention at hand,” Bağış said.
“I emphasized [in my response to the student] that if during this [accession] process Turkey has no fears in this regard vis-à-vis a 500-million-strong Europe, then it’s very silly for a Europe with a population of 500 million to be afraid of Turkey’s religion and have worries over the beliefs of 70 million Turks,” Bağış said.
During his visit, Bağış emphasized Turkish appreciation for Lithuanian support of Turkey’s EU bid, while also requesting that Lithuania -- which is one of the nations with voting power in the 2016 European Football Championship -- support Turkey’s bid to host the competition as well.
