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Turkey aims to open two European Union negotiation chapters during Spanish term

06 January 2010 [09:46] - TODAY.AZ
A senior Turkish diplomat has confirmed the country’s target of opening at least two European Union negotiation chapters for the first half of this year.
The targeted chapters are public procurement and food safety, and veterinary and phytosanitary policy, the diplomat said.

“We are ready to open more than two chapters, in fact. But we think we could move forward with these two; of course, if there would be no political attempt to block them,” the diplomat told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

Though the negotiations for full membership to the EU began in 2005, Turkey has only opened 12 chapters so far, while Croatia has almost completed two-thirds of its 35 chapters in the same period.

The EU has suspended the opening of eight chapters due to Turkey’s refusal to open its ports and airports to Greek Cyprus, while the French and Greek Cypriot administrations unilaterally blocked another 10 chapters. Turkey often complains about Greek Cyprus and France for blocking its entry for political reasons.

“Take the chapter on energy. We had to move forward with it already, but due to the Greek Cypriots’ opposition, it remains untouched,” the diplomat said. Spanish officials voiced their intention to open the energy chapters during Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s trip to Madrid, but Turkish and foreign diplomats do not see it possible under the current conditions.

“Instead of energy, you should emphasize more on the other chapters like social policy and employment,” a foreign diplomat stated. The government had to shelve a draft amendment on social policies following a disagreement with trade unions. The EU requires Turkey to grant public employees the right to strike, something the government is not very keen on.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan asked all his ministers to focus on the EU reform process during a Cabinet meeting Monday. Volkan Bozkır, secretary-general for EU affairs, briefed the Cabinet about the current status of the ongoing negotiations while his boss, State Minister and Chief EU Negotiator Egemen Bağış, asked to speed up work to meet the benchmarks of the relevant chapters.

/Hurriyet Daily News/
URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/58947.html

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