Most serious obstacle in Turkey's EU process pre-conceived notions, says EU Minister Bagis

COPENHAGEN (A.A) - December 7, 2011 - Turkish Minister for European Union (EU) Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis held talks with Danish officials and members of the Turkish community in Copenhagen on Tuesday. Speaking at a meeting held by the Danish-Turkish Business Federation in Copenhagen on Tuesday, Egemen Bagis stressed that the most serious obstacle in Turkey's EU process was pre-conceived notions held by the Europeans. "The way to end the pre-conceived notions is by winning hearts and minds," Bagis underlined. "More than 5 million Turks live in Europe. These Turks provide jobs to 640,000 people and have a total revenue of 50 billion euros. The more strong Turkey gets, so will the Turks living in Europe. The more strong Turks in Europe are, the more strong Turkey will be," Bagis said. Turks living in various European countries will be able to cast their votes in Turkish elections from now on, Bagis added. Following his speech, Bagis listened to the problems of Turks living in Denmark. Denmark will assume the EU term presidency on January 1, 2012.