EU to lifr Greek Cyprus obstacle through "Positive Agenda"

Turkey and the EU are set to enter a new term, namely, the "positive agenda," which describes the beginning of accession negotiations in one of the stalled chapters. Through this new policy, Turkey and Brussels will try to avert a possible political crisis that may erupt when the Greek Cypriot government takes over the rotating EU presidency for six months starting July 1. In addition to aiming at making a progress in the blocked negotiating chapters, Turkish and EU officials also hope to deepen cooperation in certain areas, namely, energy, visa liberalization, human rights, judicial reform, constitutional reform, trade ties, counterterrorism cooperation and foreign policy. Under this policy, Turkey’s EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis and EU commissioner for enlargement and European neighborhood policy Stefan Fule will meet in Ankara on Thursday to open political dialogue on one of the stalled topics related to the accession negotiations, namely, Chapter 23 on Judiciary and Fundamental Rights.