EU seeks robust foreign policy coordination with Turkey

Turkey places great importance on synchronizing its foreign policy moves with those of the European Union, said Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday. Meeting with EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule in Istanbul on the sidelines of the South-Eastern European Cooperation Process (SEECP) summit, Davutoglu said, "The EU seeks stronger coordination between Turkey's rising foreign policy activity and the Union's common foreign policy perspective, something highly valued by Turkey as well." He added that EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton will soon visit Turkey. Stating that he and Fule had discussed recent developments in Turkey's EU accession process, Davutoglu said there could be important developments later this year on visa exemptions for Turkish nationals traveling to EU countries. For his part, Fule said so-called "privileged partnership" proposals for Turkey in lieu of full EU membership are out of the question. "We stand by our promise that we gave Turkey in 2005" when it started accession talks, he said, expressing his hope that negotiation chapter on food security will be opened soon. Fule also stressed that the EU will continue to support Turkey's fight against terrorism. In related news, in the declaration released at the end of SEECP summit, participating countries strongly condemned the terrorist PKK and expressed their condolences to the Turkish government and people for their casualties in a series of PKK attacks since last weekend.