Bağış slams egg-throwing protest

İZMİR - Anatolia News Agency

EU minister Bağış’ right eye was targetted by the egg-throwing protestets. DHA photo

EU Minister Egemen Bağış condemned the actions of two students who hurled eggs at him during a ceremony at İzmir’s Ege University on Dec. 8.

“Throwing eggs, tomatoes, stones and Molotov cocktails is not a democratic right but a form of violence,” Bağış said Dec. 9 speaking at the 3rd International Youth Entrepreneurship Congress in Istanbul. “The mentality that considers protest and opposition as throwing eggs is bound to fail in democracies,” he said. He said he would leave the legal aspect of the egg-throwing incident to the relevant authorities.

“Throwing eggs at a human’s eyes from a distance of just 1 meter is not a protest but an attack, and I wish the students had consumed the eggs instead of throwing them,” he said. Students of Aegean University hurled eggs at Bağış the previous day while he was making a speech. Despite bodyguards’ efforts to protect the minister, one of the eggs hit his right cheek and caused it to redden. Students shouted “AKP [ruling Justice and Development Party], get out of our campus.” After the protest the students were detained by police. “We encourage young people to express their ideas in many ways, but the ones who do not have ideas throw whatever they get their hands on,” Bağış said. “I feel sorry for these students as they are being used as tools by certain groups. Instead of thinking how to make Turkey a better country and working with those who are making efforts for Turkey, they let themselves be used by certain circles,” he said.