Bagis: "Europe's anti-PKK push is the most concrete sign of the democratic initiative"

Chief Negotiator for European Union Talks Egemen Bagis yesterday gave the government credit for recent operations against the terrorist PKK in Europe, saying that Europe's changing stance comes from Ankara's determined reform process and its democratic initiative. Before flying from Luxembourg to Brussels, Bagis said, "Up to now Turkey has asked for action many times, but to no avail … But now Europeans have changed because they saw that Turkey distinguishes its Kurdish citizens from the terrorists." He added, "When Turkey started to fight against these problems within the rules of democracy, and started to deal with the cultural and economic dimensions of the issue, then Turkey forced the Europeans to cooperate."