Bagis speaks at opening ceremony of international Istanbulensis Poetry Festival

Turkey's Minister for EU Affairs and chief negotiator Egemen Bagis attended the opening ceremony of the International Istanbulensis Poetry Festival at the Cemal Resit Rey Conference Hall in Istanbul. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Bagis defined the festival as legendary. Bagis said that if everybody in Europe visited Istanbul for a couple of hours, all of the prejudices hindering our membership talks would end. Bagis added that a Europe without Istanbul would be poor. Speaking on the sidelines of the festival, Chairman of Festival Organization Committee Ozcan Unlu said, "We will connect to Cuba, Palestine, Egypt, Italy, Uruguay and sometimes to Nigde, Ordu, Erzurum and Bursa with all our hearts thanks to the festival for four days. The festival is set to host 52 poets from 16 countries.