EU to open new chapter in Turkey's accession talks

ANKARA

Turkish EU Minister Volkan Bozkir has said EU will open Chapter 17 on economic and monetary policy in Turkey’s EU accession talks in December.

"Hopefully, we will open Chapter 17 on December 14 or 15 in Brussels," Bozkir said at the Turkish Ministry for EU Affairs in the capital Ankara Thursday.

Out of 35 policy chapters, so far 14 chapters have been opened and 17 remain blocked, including Chapter 17 on economic and monetary policy, and Chapter 26 on education and culture.

The Cyprus issue remains a major obstacle to Turkey's EU membership bid.

Bozkir added that five or six more chapters may open sometime in 2016.

Regarding the EU-Turkey summit, which will be held on Nov. 29 in Brussels, Bozkir said: "We are expecting to pass a new position", adding the summit would be a "great opportunity" for enhancing relations.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Delegation of Turkey to the EU announced on its official Twitter account on Thursday that the summit will reinvigorate Turkey’s EU accession talks, increase political dialogue and discuss cooperation against all forms of terrorism.

The delegation added that EU's visa liberalization for Turkish citizens, challenges of irregular migration, sharing the burden of hosting Syrians under temporary protection and upgrading of customs union were among a host of issues expected to be discussed.

About the incident involving the downing of a Russian warplane which violated Turkish airspace, Bozkir said: "We always want to see Russia as our friend".

Bozkir said that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov will meet on Dec. 3-4 at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council meeting in Belgrade.

"This meeting should be held. We will overcome such an event via talking. It is not possible to overcome any problem by giving messages through press. I hope this meeting will take place in Belgrade," he said.

On Tuesday, two Turkish F-16 fighter jets on an aerial patrol intercepted a Russian warplane within engagement rules when it intruded into Turkish airspace near the Syrian border.

The intruding aircraft was warned about the violation 10 times within five minutes before it was shot down, according to the Turkish military.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that its Russian SU-24 fighter jet had been shot down. It crashed in the Syrian region of Bayirbucak close to Yayladagi district of Turkey's southern Hatay province.

NATO confirmed the accuracy of information shared by Turkey about the violation.

It was not the first time Russian fighter jets had violated Turkish airspace. In early October, Russian warplanes breached Turkish airspace. Russian officials apologized and pledged that no such incident would be repeated. Turkey had also renewed its warning on engagement rules, including a military response against violations of Turkish airspace.