Turkey's EU minister: Turkey has its own ideas and is able discuss them

LONDON (A.A) – Turkey's EU Minister Egemen Bagis said that Turkey, in the past, was an ally which was "taken for granted", but today it had its own ideas and was able to discuss them. Bagis met representatives of Network of Students (NOS) within the scope of his talks in London on Wednesday. Turkey is the most westerner country of the eastern world as well as the most easterner country of the western world, said Bagis. "We are a source of inspiration for the eastern countries with the successful models we applied in human rights, freedom of expression and free market economy. We are also a source of inspiration for the western countries with our young and dynamic population, influence on surrounding countries as well as growth and development rates," said Bagis. The EU integration process has an important contribution in these developments, he added. Noting that there were three issues which drew Turkey back, Bagis said that those issues were counter-terrorism, Armenian issue and Cyprus issue. If these three issues are solved, nothing can stop Turkey, he said. Bagis also said that Turkey had respect towards international laws. (Reporting by Asli Aral)