Stefan Fule: EU should show full commitment to Turkey's process

PanARMENIAN.Net - European Union member states should show full commitment to Turkey's process of joining the bloc and offer nothing less than full membership, its enlargement chief Stefan Fule said.

Turkey started membership negotiations with the EU in 2005, but talks have progressed slowly. The pace was partly due to reforms required in the country, and to stalemate on divided Cyprus, an EU member state where Turkey maintains occupation troops and refuses to grant access to Cyprus-flag ships and aircraft to its ports and airports.

There is also wariness in some EU states at the prospect of admitting Turkey, a relatively poor country of 72 mln Muslims bordering Iraq, Iran and Syria.

"On the side of the European Union it should be 100% commitment (to) the rules of the game we have adopted when we decided on the mandate for accession," Fule said in Cyprus.

EU critics, led by France and Germany, say cultural differences will make it too difficult to integrate Turkey into the bloc. France has blocked talks on five negotiation areas which it says imply eventual membership.

"I don't think it is useful for any negotiations if in the middle of the game you start to question the rules," Fule told reporters in Nicosia, Financial Mirror reported.