Top officials reaffirm Turkey's commitment to full EU membership

Speaking at a panel in Ankara yesterday on Turkey's European Union accession process, Turkey's chief European Union negotiator and foreign and justice ministers reaffirmed Ankara's commitment to implementing reforms towards the goal of full EU membership, despite ongoing political obstacles. According to diplomatic sources, many of the panel members saw little recent progress in Turkey 's negotiations. "The problems facing Turkish negotiations were discussed," said one source. "It was agreed that the current picture isn't worse than it was at the 1997 Luxembourg summit." The panel, hosted by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to mark five years of Turkey 's official EU accession talks, was convened as part of a conference bringing together Turkish ambassadors from all over the world. The panel was also attended by Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin and chief EU negotiator Egemen Bagis. Addressing the panel, Davutoglu stressed that Turkey 's objective is full EU membership, categorically rejecting Germany 's so-called "privileged partnership" proposal. On the future of Turkish-EU relations, the three top officials said the Turkish public remains willing to join the EU, but negative signals from some EU member states have eroded public confidence that Ankara will one day be able to join the bloc, according to sources. Bagis said 18 of Turkey 's 35 negotiation chapters have been blocked for political reasons. "The blockage of more than half of the chapters is a first in the history of EU enlargement," he said. "But our basic goal isn't opening or closing chapters or the number of opened or closed chapters but raising Turkey 's standard of living."