Bagis: "Europe's crisis has resulted in a temporary thorn in its ties with Turkey"

State Minister and Chief European Union Talks Negotiator Egemen Bagis yesterday sounded hopeful about long-term ties between Ankara and Brussels, blaming the current stalemate in these relations from the crisis Europe is undergoing. "First of all, the confusion in minds should be removed; minds should open up in the first place," Bagis said when asked how to break the deadlock in opening Turkey's accession negotiation chapters. "The EU should get rid of its prejudices and fears," Bagis said. "One of the biggest sources of paranoia for the EU was the assumption that EU countries would encounter an intense wave of migration if Turkey became an EU member," he added, apparently referring to a recent Eurobarometer poll which found that 70 percent of young Turks have no desire to work in EU countries. "Our efforts on the issue of visa-free travel for our citizens have also yielded fruit, and the EU has announced it will facilitate the procedure," Bagis said, adding that he is confident the process will soon result in visa-free travel for Turkish citizens.