"MANY THINGS HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED IN THE LAST 6 YEARS IN TURKEY"
Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis stated that many things have been achieved in the last 6 years with the combined efforts of the state and the public.
In his speech at the dinner in Ortakoy Princess Hotel held by the Of Charity Association and Foundation Bagis stated that when we look back the last 50 years, we witness coup d'états, execution of a prime minister, seizure of the books of world-famous writers like Kafka and Dostoyevski because of the claim of propagandizing for communism, and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor was arrested 10 years ago for reading a poem already in the course books aloud. However, today we are carrying on the EU negotiations in Turkey.
Bagis declared that the city whose mayor was arrested in the past has been selected as the European Capital of Culture; he also added that "this leader is now not only the Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic but also the voice of conscience of the world".
Bagis reported that when "Tayyip Erdogan" is mentioned either in the West or the East, it is being applauded. He added that today there is no other leader who can say that "the king is naked!" meaning that "there has been a crime against humanity in Gaza but anti-Semitism is as much a crime against humanity."
Bagis emphasized that Turkey is proceeding rapidly and reached an economic structure not being affected by the crises around.
Bagis stated that "EU is on the agenda of Turkey for 43 years but the negotiations started at the AK Party period. He continued that "I am very proud of this. I am the Minister for EU Affairs, responsible for the coordination of the most important modernisation project after the proclamation of the Turkish Republic. But I also feel sorry that this has been continuing for 50 years."
Bagis stated that besides the EU, Turkey also turns its face to the East and undertakes the responsibility to be the General Secretary of Organization of the Islamic Conference, and is the co-chairman of the Alliance of Civilizations project which is established in order to prevent the clash of civilizations. Bagis continued:
"These I have mentioned above and many other things have been achieved in the last 6 years, for the nation and state have exerted combined efforts. We have not led to any discrimination in Turkey. We have not made discrimination among the people of Trabzon, Of, Diyarbakir, Siirt, Malatya, Edirne, Artvin, and Kars. We said "We all are the people of this country. We should be in cooperation. The military services and the civil services shouldn't be in conflict."
Bagis reminded that Prime Minister Erdogan together with the Foreign Minister, the Minister of National Defence, the Deputy Chief of General Staff, the members of the parliament and ambassadors paid a visit to USA on the 5th of November 2007, a date which is a critical point in the relations between Turkey and USA. He went on his speech as follows:
"When Turkey was unified with its soldiers and civilians, with its east and west, President of the USA said "PKK is not an enemy of Turkey only, but of us also. As of today, we share our intelligence." That is to say, when we collaborate with our forces, when we don't struggle but support each other, Turkey can achieve a lot of success."
Bagis stated that they have witnessed the change of approach to the state of the people living in Diyarbakir upon the launch of TRT 6. He also added that by restoring the citizenship of Nazim Hikmet, a fault has been corrected.
Bagis stated that behind the success of AK Party lies the love for humans, and the other factor is the effect of services Prime Minister Erdogan had rendered while he was Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor.
Indicating that they wanted the districts which did not get their share of pleasure from AK Party's way of governing a city and have great problems to receive services according to this mentality, Bagis said he believed that AK Party candidate for Besiktas mayor Sibel Carmikli and candidate for Sisli mayor Emin Haberdar would be successful in the local elections with this mentality.
Stating that the debt of Sisli municipality was incalculable and parking problem in Besiktas still continued, Bagis said: "This nation now desires to get services; wants to think big and not to have mayors who consider the municipality of a district as a step to reach higher political positions... It is the time now to provide services."
AK Party candidate for Besiktas mayor Sibel Carmikli and AK Party candidate for Sisli mayor Emin Haberdar and also Ruhan Cakiroglu, the President of Of Charity Culture and Solidarity Association and Resat Aksu, the President of Of Charity Culture Education and Solidarity Foundation, delivered speeches at the dinner.