Turkish Minister for European Union (EU) Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis said Sunday that important steps were taken for a more civilian Turkey, AA reported.
In an exclusive interview with the AA, Egemen Bagis said that all steps taken in Turkey were taken within the frame of the Constitution and laws.
It is out of question for the Turkish government to act out of laws or the Constitution, Bagis said.
When we use the term 'civilian', this should not be perceived as a stance against the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). When Turkey gets more civilian, the TSK would get stronger, Bagis said.
It is high time that we in Turkey have a Constitution that embraces everyone without making any discrimination, Bagis said.
Touching on Turkey-EU relations, Minister Bagis said that "if the EU Commission was to prepare a report on member countries, many of the reports would be worse than that prepared on Turkey".
16 EU member countries are going through their worst crisis as they have not acted in line with the rules of the EU. Since Turkey implemented the rules of the EU, we have become the fastest growing country in the Union, Bagis said.
Turkey's population, power and dynamism may be a matter of concern for certain European countries. What we should do is to make our reforms, get our standards higher and eventually make a decision on whether or not to join the Union, Bagis underlined.
In regard to the terrorist organization, Bagis said that the terrorist organization PKK killed Turks by bullets and Europeans by selling drugs.
As such, we need to fight against the terrorist organization together, Bagis also said.