TTurkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the EU to determine their
joint position on Turkey joining the organization. Turkish authorities
have repeatedly said that joining the EU is a strategic goal of
Ankara, TRT reports.
The negotiations on the issue started in October 2005. German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy spoke
out against Turkey joining EU, offering it a status of privileged
partner.
Turkey rejects the offer, saying that it does not meet an alternative
to full-fledged membership. Erdogan said that EU is looking for
excuses.
State Minister Egemen Bagysh, supervising European integration of
Turkey, said that the EU needs to determine its position on the issue.
The negotiations that started in October 2005 were held according to
33 points of the integration file, they are currently held under 13
points. EU is blocking negotiations of 17 points due to political
reasons, in particular, for the Turkish position on Cyprus issue
settlement. Turkey said that it will not open its ports until the
international isolation of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus ends.
