Davutoglu decries "very deadlock" in EU talks

Calling on European Union members to find a "strategic vision" for candidate country Turkey , Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday decried the "very serious deadlock" on the opening of new negotiation chapters. Davutoglu's remarks came at a joint press conference in Istanbul with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, praising these two countries' firm support for Turkey 's EU accession bid. "Unfortunately, we're facing a very serious deadlock in Turkish-EU relations on the opening of chapters," he said. "But beyond that, from now on we want a strategic vision to be sovereign in the EU's view of Turkey ." Late last month, EU ministers approved a deal with Turkey on the readmission of illegal immigrants but declined to authorize the EU Commission to begin talks with Ankara on visa liberalization for Turkish nationals. "This is the latest in a string of negative messages from the EU," said Davutoglu. "We will maintain our insistence on this issue. Principally, we're not asking for treatment that is different than that shown any other country. We want the same treatment; we want the same rules."