DUBLIN
Turkey's EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis said Turkey was hopeful its bid to join the European Union would accelerate during Ireland's presidency of the EU in the first half of next year.
Speaking to Irish Times during his Ireland visit last week, Bagis said "Turkey did not expect to become a full member of the EU during the Irish presidency but they were pragmatic and they would work very hard to achieve the goal of putting Turkish-EU relations on a much more reliable track". He added they thought with strong Irish support they could turn the process around.
Mary Fitzgerald, the Irish Times foreign policy correspondent wrote in her piece Bagis's statements on Turkey was heartened by signals from Paris that French president Francois Hollande, while stopping short of endorsing Ankara's candidacy, took a more sympathetic view than his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy, who was strongly opposed to Turkey's accession.
Turkey began formal accession talks in 2005 but has completed only one of the 35 policy 'chapters' every candidate must conclude in order to join the EU. All but 13 were blocked by France, Cyprus and the European Commission said Bagis and added he hoped France would unblock talks over its accession on at least two policy chapters in the coming months ahead of a visit by Hollande to Turkey.
Given Ireland's position of supporting Turkish accession, Bagis said he believed its six-month EU presidency would mark a 'historical turning point' in the process.
He said despite dwindling domestic support, Turkey has continued to push for full membership of the EU, saying it wanted to join before 2023, the centenary of its founding as a republic.
Bagis repeated Ankara's line that the EU needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the EU. He compared the EU’s economic crisis with Turkey's soaring growth rate, and said Turkey was crucial for European access to regional energy sources and lucrative markets.
Bagis acknowledged that in several EU states where governments support Turkish accession, including Ireland, public sentiment did not always match the official position. He bemoaned the 'prejudice' he said was at the heart of this opposition.
He said he had detected a shift in the personal views of Minister for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton, who had voiced strong opposition to Turkey joining the EU before she became Minister, in an official visit to Turkey earlier this year.
Bagis said Turkey had an image problem, and added that "But when people visited Turkey, they would see that it was different to what they expected".
Responding the criticism of the EU for shortcomings in free speech and freedom of religion, and has raised concerns over minority rights, Bagis said progress was being made in these areas. He said the reform process was going faster, and Turkey was becoming more democratic and dynamic.
