Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik evaluated the Statement by the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Junker

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Ömer Çelik said “There are too many political positions in Europe which should get rid of culturally supercilious and politically selfish approaches.”

Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik responded, over his social media account Twitter, to the statement by the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Junker who said:  “We, as Europeans, have to stop trying to teach everyone lessons. We need to have equal partnership with other states." Minister Ömer Çelik said: “This is one of the essential needs of the EU. First of all, one should understand that the EU is not the exact equivalent of the term “Europe” in political and cultural sense. Also, while looking at the world from Europe, the euro-centric approach must be dropped. There are too many political positions in Europe which should get rid of culturally supercilious and politically selfish approaches.”

Calling on the EU to learn from the mistakes in its past, Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik also stated: “For a better future, EU needs an approach of “not teaching lessons” but “being aware of learning its lessons”. Firstly, one should ask why racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia are on the rise in Europe and also one should draw lessons from past mistakes.”