Bagis considers decision reached by EU as normal development, not an extraordinary one

Touching on the decision reached by EU member states to open talks with Turkey, Turkey’s Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis said that the decision was a normal development, not an extraordinary one. Speaking to ambassadors of EU countries to Turkey about the course of Turkey's accession process during a working lunch at the ministry, Bagis said that felt grateful to host the ambassadors on the day that a new chapter was opened in Turkey's EU accession process. Bagis expressed that the opening of Chapter 22, "Regional policy and Coordination of structural instruments" carried an extra importance, while Turkey has been undergoing from the solution process. Stating that it’s not an extraordinary issue, rather an ordinary process, Bagis said that the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fule also had defined the opening of Chapter 23 and 24 as very significant in the future within the political sensitivities occurred in this process. Bagis reiterated that EU membership was a strategic and supra-party objective for Turkey, to which all the governments have been committed since 1959.