BRUSSELS
EU should open its policy chapter on energy to move forward the process of Turkey’s accession into the 28-nation-bloc, Turkey's EU Minister Volkan Bozkir said Friday.
Bozkir told The Anadolu Agency in Brussels that opening Chapter 15 on Energy was necessary for the security of energy supplies.
"Whether or not Chapter 15 (on energy) will be opened, it is the responsibility of the European Union and concerns their reputation," he said.
Out of 35 chapters, 14 chapters have been opened and 17 remain blocked, including Chapter 17 on Economic and Monetary Policy and Chapter 26 on Education and Culture, Bozkir said on Nov.11, 2014.
His comments came weeks after Turkey and the EU said in a statement on March 17 that they had signed a joint energy cooperation declaration.
The EU is one of Turkey's largest importers of natural gas and other energy sources, according to Bozkir.
The talks come amid the EU's attempt to reduce its energy dependency on its main gas supplier Russia. The crisis in Ukraine has pushed the EU to sanction Russia, which the bloc accuses of using its energy resources as a military weapon.
The EU, the largest energy importer in the world, imports 53 percent of its energy at an annual cost of around €400 billion ($426.8 billion), according to the European Commission.
