Bagis: "We carry out these reforms for our own people"

EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis yesterday said that certain EU member countries use Turkey's EU membership bid as a tool as part of their disagreements, adding, "French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been unfortunately using Turkey's EU membership process for his local political campaign. I'm sure he won't succeed in this, because the social intelligence of French people is much richer than the simple approach displayed by Sarkozy." Speaking at a conference organized by a non-governmental organization named "European Movement in Montenegro" in capital Podgorica, Bagis stressed that Turkey has opened a total of 13 out of 33 chapters to membership talks with the EU, and that 17 out of 20 chapters which have not been opened were blocked due to political purposes. "We carry out these reforms not for Sarkozy or [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel, but for the sake of our own people. Montenegro should do the same. Turkey has become the 16th largest economy in the world, ranking the 6th in Europe in the same category. Our economy has the highest growth rate in Europe. We have been complying with the EU criteria, which makes us a strong partner to the EU. According to 92 percent of Turkish people, the EU practices double standards against Turkey. I hope Montenegro won't face the same problem in the future," Bagis said.