Foreign Ministry welcomes decision reached by EU member states

The Turkish Foreign Ministry welcomed the EU member state's decision to open talks with the bloc in a statement, saying that the step was positive but insufficient for Turkey-EU relations, which have been strained recently. "We welcome the fact that consensus has been reached on the opening of Chapter 22 of the Negotiation Process with Turkey, titled ‘Regional Policies and Coordination of Structural Instruments' in the EU General Affairs Council which convened today. This is an inadequate step, but one taken in the right direction with regard to our relations with the EU that have been going through a difficult period due to stagnation in our accession negotiations for some time. The Intergovernmental Conference will convene on a date to be determined following the presentation of the Commission's annual progress report on Turkey," the statement said.