Turkey, EU to open chapter 22 after three silent years

Turkey and the European Union will open Chapter 22, which concerns regional policy and the coordination of structural instruments, on Tuesday at the Intergovernmental Accession Conference, thus ending a three-year hiatus in Turkey's accession talks. The conference's Turkish delegation will be led by Chief EU Negotiator Egemen Bagis and Development Minister Cevdet Yilmaz. The EU will be represented by EU Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fule. The EU took this year's European Commission Progress Report on Turkey into account when deciding whether to restart Turkey's frozen accession process by opening talks on a new policy area. Though having already agreed in June that Chapter 22 on regional policy would be opened, the EU then delayed the intergovernmental conference until October in retaliation for Turkey's handling of the Gezi Park protests. These protests that swept Turkish cities started in opposition to the redevelopment of Istanbul's Gezi Park but soon became violent through the involvement of marginal groups. Clashes with police left four people dead and around 7,500 injured. Turkey's accession talks have been frozen for three years. Turkey began negotiations to join the EU in 2005, 18 years after its first application. But a series of political obstacles, notably the Cyprus issue, and resistance to Turkish membership by key members France and Germany have slowed progress to a snail's pace. Turkey has only been able to open 13 out of 35 chapters so far, with one of the 13 temporarily closed. There has been an apparent decline in the Turkish government's drive to pursue full membership of the EU, and at the same time the public also appears less interested in the bid. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to visit Finland, Sweden and Poland on Nov. 5-9. Erdogan is expected to meet with heads of state from the three EU members, as well as his counterparts and other high-ranking officials.