ISTANBUL
Turkish Minister for European Union Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis has said ethnic and religious tensions did not erupt despite provocations regarding Taksim Gezi Park protests.
Speaking at an Association of Architects and Engineers conference titled "Technical Consultancy and and Practices in the EU" in Istanbul, Bagis said protests in Turkey did not arise from hunger, poverty or unemployment .
"Scenarios have been successful to abuse protests in many countries so far . It has been tried in Turkey but they have failed. Istanbul has been the first metropolitan city where they failed to provoke," said Bagis
Protests mostly occurred on social media, said Bagis adding, before the protests broke out hundreds of thousands of fake twitter accounts had been created.
"They tried to create an image of Turkey as if it were on the brink of social eruption but they have shown their true color," Bagis said.
Bagis also touched upon Turkey's EU accession talks saying EU standards had been achieved in terms of raising life standards despite the EU. He said he would go to Brussels on June 26 to discuss the opening of Chapter 2, which regulated regional policies adding there had been attempts to prevent the opening of the chapter recently.
"Those who strive against Turkey should think once again before they try [...]They should realize that Europe would be such a faint place without Istanbul," Bagis said.
Bagis also said Turkey proved to be sure of itself, grew and developed economically and became a transparent country after the outlawed terror organization PKK announced that they would pull back from Turkey, adding there were communities that felt uncomfortable with the process.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
