Turkish minister of EU: EP has no sanction power

Turkey's Minister of European Union Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egermen Bagis said European Parliament's resolution had no sanction power on Turkey. Evaluating the EP's final decision on Turkey, Bagis said "European Parliament's resolution has no sanction power. They have taken a decision at the parliament and voted for it and declared it." Bagis also said that Turkish Republic was democratic, secular and social state of law, by adding: "Turkey's tradition of being state has exceeded millennium. We are a model for many European countries in terms of the sensibility." Addressing the European Parliament before the vote on the resolution, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stephan Fule repeated his criticism and said the Turkish government should pursue dialogue with demonstrators. "Any approach based on confrontation and division is a source of even more serious concern, not only for Turkish society, but also for the European Union," he said.