Turkish EU minister: German chancellor mistaken

Turkey's European Union Minister Egemen Bagis on Friday said German Chancellor Angela Merkel was mistaken by hindering the opening of new "chapters" or policy areas in Turkey's EU alignment talks. Speaking at a meeting in Istanbul, Bagis said Gezi Park protests, which he described as an international plot against Turkey, would be understood better in time and underlined that protests broke out ahead of the opening of the new EU policy chapters. Bagis said there were those who wanted to create a bad image for Turkey and take advantage of it. Stating that the negotiations were completed for the opening of chapter 22 which regulates regional polices Bagis said, "we have been invited to discuss the opening of chapter 22. Development Minister Cevdet Yilmaz and myself will go to Brussels to hold talks on the opening of the chapter." Bagis said French government lifted its obstacles for Turkey's EU bid which had been blocked by the former French president, adding, " we have done necessary works. All the member states said they were ready to open the chapter. Invitations have been sent [...] But what we hear now is that Germany was hindering the opening of the chapter. Officially declaring such a political obstacle is thought provoking." "No chapters have been opened in the past three years but Turkey has not sunk into pessimism in this process and has not slowed down its reforms," said Bagis. Turkey disappointed with Germany's EU chapter blocking attempt Bagis said Turkey was disappointed with the German attempt to block the opening of the 22nd chapter in Turkey's EU accession negotiations. In a written statement issued on Friday, Turkey's EU Minister Bagis criticized Germany's attitude regarding the 22nd Chapter Regional Policy and Coordination of Structural Instruments, which came following Taksim Gezi Park protests and incidents. Bagis stated "Recently, we regret to observe that our German allies resented from our statements and made different interpretations," stressing that his statements are always made of sincerity and totally reflect their expectations towards directing the firm cooperation between Turkey and Germany to the EU accession process. Bagis also reminded Germany that they already expressed their pleasure on the opening of the 22nd chapter, in the last meeting of the foreign ministers of the EU on May 12. "Nevertheless, we are disappointed with the German attempt to block the opening of the 22nd chapter. We express our disappointment as a matter of our sincerity. All we do is to remind the 'pacta sunt servanda' principle which was on all occasions underlined by Germany during our EU accession negotiations. Moreover, we expected them to perceive our statement within the freedom of expression and as a stress on democratic mechanisms rather than a threat," added Bagis. Bagis offered Germany to move the negotiations forward together, saying "Let's realize the German idiom 'begin as a Turk finish as a German' in our EU accession process."