Turkish president hails new chapter of EU accession negotiations

Turkish President Abdullah Gul hailed the opening of a new chapter of accession negotiations between Turkey and the European Union (EU) on Tuesday. Turkey and the EU opened Chapter 22 on regional policy and the coordination of structural instruments on Tuesday, following a three-year pause in membership negotiations. A statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said the opening of a new chapter is an "important first step" in reviving the accession negotiations. "Turkey's goal is to successfully complete full membership talks," said Gul. Turkey's foremost expectation is that EU member states lift the block on chapters. "Turkey will continue its works decisively on the path of EU membership," said the statement. The chapter opened at the Intergovernmental Accession Conference on Tuesday, attended by Turkey's chief negotiator for EU accession talks Egemen Bagis, Turkish Development Minister Cevdet Yilmaz, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fule, EU Commissioner for Financial Affairs Olli Rehn and EU term president and Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius. 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. The European Commission hailed recent reforms in Turkey, but criticized Turkish government's crackdown on protesters over environmental woes in the coastal city of Istanbul. The lack of progress in Turkey-EU talks has deeply frustrated Ankara and Turkish public who are growing weary of what they see as biased treatment toward Turkey. Turkey is the only candidate country that has no visa waiver deal with the EU. The EU started negotiations with Turkey in 2005, 18 years after its first application, but accession talks have made relatively little progress. A series of political obstacles, notably the Cyprus issue, and resistance to Turkish membership by key members such as France and Germany have slowed progress to a snail's pace. Turkey has 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.