UMM and Secretariat General for EU Sign Partnership Agreement

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis attended the signing ceremony of the protocol of cooperation between Union of Municipalities of Marmara (UMM) and the Secretariat General for EU Affairs, which was held in the framework of the General Assembly Meeting of the Union in Bursa.

In his speech at the ceremony, Bagis noted that there were three dimensions of the EU-Turkey relations and said:

"One of them is the reforms which we implement each day with determination and resolution. The other one is the negotiations which we conduct again with determination despite political obstacles and resistance centres both inside and outside, and the third dimension is communication. Because both individuals and societies are suspicious about and afraid of those whom they don't know well; however, as they get to know each other and establish close relationships, those concerns turn into love and peace."

Indicating that the municipalities had important responsibilities for ensuring that citizens have a better understanding of the EU and that the EU funds are used properly, Bagis said, "The protocol between the Secretariat General for EU Affairs and UMM will play an important role in ensuring that municipalities attain the EU standards in the services they provided and reach the EU standards in their respective areas and in achieving success in, in our Prime Minister's words, 'the most important modernization project of our country after the proclamation of the Turkish Republic."

Expressing the view that "Perhaps one of the most important characteristics of the EU lies in the philosophy which is behind the success of the Ottoman Empire, the seeds of which are planted in these lands", Bagis said:

"What was that philosophy? "Glorify the individual, so that the government would be glorified". In other words, there wasn't a concept such as 'sublime government' as our Constitution suggests currently. The individual was the sublime and the government was standing as an institution which had to serve for the people. Today, EU itself is also a union which glorifies the individual, increases the individual freedoms and preserves the rights of the individuals. While we are progressing towards EU, we are, in fact, turning back to our roots."

In his speech Bagis stated that the philosophy which suggests the idea: "Let's unite and become a whole, let's come together", rendered the EU one of the most important power points of the world.

Bagis pointed out that, despite many violent wars Europe had gone through, people from different cultures, languages and religions had proven their determination to come together for the sake of peace. He said: "Therefore, EU has been the most comprehensive peace project throughout the human history. However, this project has not been completed yet. It will be completed with Turkey's accession into the EU."

Source: http://www.egemenbagis.com/index.cfm?action=index&page=newsdetails&news=543