Turkey's EU minister meets head of EU delegation to Turkey

ANKARA (A.A) - January 30, 2012 - Turkey's European Union Minister and Chief Negotiator for EU accession talks Egemen Bagis on Monday met with Jean-Maurice Ripert, the head of the EU Delegation to Turkey, in the Turkish capital, Ankara.  Speaking to reporters at the meeting, Bagis said Turkish officials were discussing with their EU counterparts ways to extend the Union's newly-signed free trade agreements with third parties to include companies of the Turkish private sector, adding that related provisions of Turkey's Customs Union Agreement were under review. "The Customs Union Agreement is based on a balance and when you demand something new you have to sacrifice other things in return. Our officials are still looking into the issue," Bagis said. Touching on EU's visa policy, Bagis said Turkey was the only candidate country whose citizens were required to obtain visas to travel to member countries in the Schengen area, adding, "this is another field where mistakes have to be corrected. Our goal is to secure visa-free travel for Turks to EU member countries." Responding to a question on Europe's debt crisis, Bagis said 60 percent of tourists visiting Turkey were from EU member countries and that 90 percent of foreign investments last year was European.       "This shows that our economic relations with EU are of utmost importance. EU's exiting from this crisis serves our interests too," Bagis said. Ripert on his part said that Turkey had made a series of "great achievements," adding, "the crisis has shown that we share a common destiny particularly in economy and tourism."