Egemen Bağış talked to reporters prior to attending the Sixth Bodrum Roundtable Meeting hosted by the Economy and Foreign Policy Research Center (EDAM) in Bodrum town of south-western province of Mugla on Sunday.
Guests from all corners of the world come to Turkey for such meetings. The participants of the meetings do not merely discuss Turkey's EU process but also the future of the EU itself. Turkey is a key country for the future of the EU. One of the most important problems of Europe has to do with energy. 70 percent of all energy needed by Europe sits at Turkey's borders. Another important problem of Europe is economic crisis. Turkey broke a world record with a growth figure of 11 percent in the first half of 2010, Bağış stressed.
Europe is in an effort to reach new markets. European companies can reach a market of 1.5 billion people with a three-hour flight from Turkey. Europe has a security problem. Europe's largest army is present in Turkey. We are the second biggest armed forces in NATO. Europe has a problem associated with integration. Our civilization is the one that has brought together the Islamic culture with democratic culture. When you consider Turkey from these perspectives, Turkey is indeed a key country for the EU, Bağış underlined.
Turkey's EU process is beneficial for Turkey. The EU process makes Turkey more democratic, more contemporary and more respectable, Bağış said.
The process is also beneficial for the EU itself, Bağış said.
During our (EU) process, we will try to do what we can by giving hand in hand with the main opposition of Turkey. At times, we expect more support from the opposition. At certain periods, the Turkish opposition extends support to our government and we thank for that. The relations with the opposition has its ups and downs. What matters now is that a referendum process has been left behind. In the upcoming term, we need to do what our citizens expect us to do. While voting 'yes' for the Constitutional amendments in the referendum, our citizens actually said 'yes' to the EU process, Bağış also said.
