Free market the future, says EU man

ANKARA - Turkey’s chief negotiator for European Union talks said the argument about the return to statism due to a non-functioning market model was misleading, adding that statism failed to create welfare in the world.

"All phases of statism in the world only opened the way for the sharing of poverty. Statism failed to create welfare in the world and it will be unable to do so in the future. Socialism has neither an iPhone nor a plasma television," Egemen Bağış told a symposium yesterday on the 12th anniversary of the Turkish Competition Authority.

He said giving up on the market economy was not even a possibility and said what should be done is correct the mistakes. Describing the reforms required for full membership in the EU as steps that would strengthen the competition-based market economy and help Turkey become a global actor, Bağiş said all the chapters would help the country’s adaptation to the competitive environment.

Bağış said the measures taken by Turkey following the 2001 crisis contributed to Turkey being among the least affected countries in the current financial crisis, compared to European countries. "Today, while the banks in the United States and Europe are losing business, thank God not even a single bank went bankrupt in Turkey. Our banking sector gained $12 billion net profit as of the end of 2008," he said.

hurriyet.com.tr/english