Turkey remains 'determined' to join EU

Turkey's EU minister has castigated some candidates in the recent European elections who he believes "insulted" his country.

Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, Egemen Bagis said some candidates had "exploited" the elections "for their own ends".

"In doing so, they insulted the nation of Turkey," he said. "These narrow-minded people made statements (about Turkey's EU accession bid) which were designed to create divisions and disunity among the Turkish people."

"But the message I want to convey to these people is that the EU needs Turkey at least as much as Turkey needs the EU."

Bagis, addressing a European Policy Centre breakfast briefing, said Turkey remained as "determined as ever" that its accession bid would succeed, despite the fact that only 10 negotiating chapters have been opened since 2005.

The 4-7 June elections resulted in a clear victory for centre-right parties at European level and in most individual countries.

In Germany and France, the centre-right parties of Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, who repeatedly spoke of their opposition to Turkey's full membership during the electoral campaign, were clear winners. The far-right also gained more ground, claiming an increased number of seats.

Elsewhere, new MEP Geert Wilders, of the Dutch far-right Freedom Party, said Turkey should not become an EU member now or "in a million years".

Bagis, who only landed in Brussels at 4am after late-night talks in Ankara, said Turkey had taken "key decisive" steps over the last six months, including the introduction of new laws and adoption of the Kyoto protocol, which should be seen as examples of the "progress" it is making towards meeting the conditions necessary for EU membership.

"A lot of reforms are being enacted and much progress is being made. I want to stress that full membership of the EU is the issue which unites the whole country," added Bagis, who was appointed to his current post in January.

He pointed out that six million Turks live and vote in EU member states, adding, "This is bigger than some member states."

Turkey is the EU's seventh largest trading partner while 50 per cent of Turkey's trade is with the EU.

"I have to admit that it is not easy trying to convince 70 million Turks that EU membership will not divide their country while at the same time convincing EU citizens that Turkey is not out to bash the EU."

• Previous article
• Next article