Bagis welcomes conclusions of EU General affairs council

Turkey's Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis welcomed the conclusions of the EU General Affairs Council on enlargement and in this regard on Turkey-EU relations, describing them as "an indicator showing that the progress made by our government along the EU process and the steps that it will take in the upcoming period are on the right direction." Furthermore, a statement from Turkey's Ministry of EU Affairs said that migration from Turkey to Europe was in a reversing trend, in line with the most recent official statistics of some EU countries, adding, "In our view, connecting the visa issue for Turkish citizens directly with illegal migration from third countries and referring to the EU-Turkey Readmission Agreement in this context is not the right approach." The statement also noted that despite the rights stemming from Turkey's association agreement, Turkey is the only candidate country for which the citizens are required to have a Schengen visa and that the stance taken by the Southern Greek Cypriot Administration once more at this Council meeting had negative consequences for the future of the EU. "If the EU wishes to be a global actor and to honour its commitments, the EU should lift the political blocks in Turkey's accession process. The EU is a continental peace project built on universal values.  Turkey's membership will enable the EU to become a global actor contributing to world peace. The truth cannot be hidden.  The reforms realized by Turkey in the EU accession process cannot be disregarded simply because there are those in Europe who want to ignore the process in Turkey," the statement added.