Turkey’s EU minister says the country does not turn its back on Europe

Turkey’s chief negotiator for European Union membership talks has rejected that his country did not shift its Western-oriented foreign policy.
"Turkey, which has been a bridge between the East and the West for centuries, does not turn its back on the West. What we have been experiencing is the strengthening of that bridge," Egemen Bagis told a Brussels forum meeting on "Turkey, Zero Problems and EU," organized by the U.S. think-tank German Marshall Fund.
Bagis said Turkey’s accession to the EU would only make the Union "a global peace project," adding that the country’s democratic transformation had been a source of inspiration for African and Middle Eastern nations.
"On the one hand, you keep telling Northern African and Middle Eastern countries to become a democratic and transparent rule of law while insisting on an unfair treatment for Turkey, which is an inspiration to those very same Northern African and Middle Eastern countries. You cannot explain this contradiction to them," Bagis said.
Bagis also urged the EU to invite Turkey to the Union’s summit meetings if it was genuinely sincere in maintaining strategic dialogue with the country.
The Turkish minister also rejected accusation that Turkey’s accession talks had slowed down, saying that Turkey faced political obstacles on its EU path.
"European Commission’s latest report on Turkey says that our country made progress in all negotiations chapter. But also we want see the light at the end of the tunnel," Bagis said.
Bagis also rejected criticisms that Turkey’s "zero problem" policy excluded the Greek Cypriot administration, saying Ankara exerted great effort to settle down the Cyprus issue.
"We need to re-gain a balance between carrots and sticks in Cyprus. The Greek Cypriot side has become an EU member with all the benefits. And now they do not feel any need to seek a solution because they feel they had nothing to lose," Bagis said.
Bagis said Turkey was ready to open its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels once the EU honored its promise it made in 2004 to remove all economic isolations on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
"If one day a Lufthansa plane lands at the Ercan Airport (at the TRNC) I am giving you my word that we will open our ports," he said.