Fule: No progress is possible in Turkey’s EU accession negotiations without convincing progress in Cyprus and the political reforms
Under the title “Turkey will do its bit”, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (24.06.14) reports that the EU Commissioner responsible for the Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy, Stefan Fule has said that the accession negotiations are the “engine” of the relations between Turkey and the EU, but progress in this field will be possible only in case “convincing progress” is achieved on issues which are related to the political reforms and Cyprus.
In statements after the 52nd Partnership Council between Turkey and the EU, Fule said that in the meeting he had stressed, like he did during his recent visit to Ankara a week ago, that sustaining the momentum in the accession negotiations would be important for both sides’ interests from the point of view of acquiring “real and concrete results”.
Fule said that implementing the Additional Protocol would revive Turkey’s accession process, adding that “many chapters might open and close, some of which very quickly”.
In his statements, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s EU Minister and Chief Negotiator, argued that Turkey will do its bit in its accession process, including on issues related to the political reforms and Cyprus and added that they expect from the EU to do the same. Cavusoglu claimed that especially the recent developments in the Middle East and Eastern Europe proved once more that a “common political vision” is needed in the relations between Turkey and the EU. “The EU membership is a strategic choice for Turkey”, he said expressing the belief that “some EU member states should approach Turkey’s EU accession process with a “strategic perspective instead with their short-term interests”.
Cavusoglu argued that Turkey’s accession process should be accelerated and alleged: “Within this framework, I want to recall that 17 chapters are unfortunately blocked for political reasons. The rest of the chapters should open without further delay”. He also claimed that Turkey’s accession negotiations should be completed without political obstacles.
Meanwhile, after the same meeting, the EU Term President and Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos drew attention to the importance of fully and without discrimination implementing the Additional Protocol for all EU member states and pointed out that this is Turkey’s obligation. He said that they reiterated the call on Turkey for progress on this issue and that a step in this direction would create a “visible acceleration” in the negotiating process.