EU Minister regrets neglect of European public opinion

Turkey’s EU Minister Volkan Bozkır has admitted failures in "correcting misperceptions" in European countries about Turkey, but vowed that the government would continue to strive to boost Turkey’s image and increase the amount of high-level visits to Brussels.

“It is understood that we have neglected European countries for some time. Some perceptions being established is inevitable because of this. We will have to change these perceptions by thoroughly explaining the facts,” Bozkır told Hürriyet on Nov. 6, as he concluded an official visit to the Norwegian capital Oslo.

According to Bozkır, isolated visits to European countries would not be sufficient to draw an accurate picture of Turkey in the eyes of European public opinion. Instead, frequent visits by ministers, lawmakers, representatives of civil society organizations and academics should be paid to each country were necessary, he said.

Maintaining that visits recently paid to Estonia, France and Latvia by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have already been useful in this regard, Bozkır added that both Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu would separately visit Brussels in early 2015.

“Turkey’s EU membership process will also proceed more strongly to the extent we smooth away misperceptions. It is also fundamental to feel closer to the EU,” he said.

While recalling that opening benchmarks for Chapters 23, on the Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, and Chapter 24, on Justice, Freedom and Security, has been on the union’s agenda, the minister said steps taken for democracy and reforms by Turkey were more important than opening more chapters for membership negotiations with the EU.

The EU issue is a “permanent item’ on the...