Bagis - "If Turkish Army is provoked, both Cyprus and Europe will regret it"!

Turkish Minister Egemen Bağış. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In an unprecedented statement, the Turkish Minister for EU affairs Egemen Bagis openly threatened Cyprus and Europe if they dare to test the validity of the Turkish Army. According to a dispatch from newsit, Bagis, did not hesitate to even threaten the Cypriot Ambassador in the presence of the Irish Parliament. It needs to be noted that Ireland’s EU term presidency is set to start as of January 1, 2013.

Specifically, Bagis said that said that no one "should challenge the military capabilities of Turkey, distancing it from the EU" and that "if Turkey's military power is provoked, Cyprus and Europe will regret it."

Turkey began accession talks in 2005 but the process has ground to a halt due to an intractable dispute over Cyprus, the divided island state which Turkey does not recognise, and opposition from core EU members France and Germany. Bagis says that the Cyprus issue should not be an obstacle to Turkey's accession to the EU.

Despite waning domestic support for joining the EU, Ankara has continued to push for full membership of the union and has said it wants to join before 2023, the centenary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey.

It needs to be noted that Ankara has only completed one of the 35 policy "chapters" every candidate state must conclude to join the EU. All but 13 of those chapters are blocked by France, Cyprus and the European Commission.

Talks have also been blocked by the Commission which says Turkey does not yet meet required standards on human rights, freedom of speech and religion.

Reference
newsit