Turkey: EU accession remains strategic goal

ANKARA

Full EU membership remains a strategic goal for Turkey, the head of the country's Parliamentary EU Harmonization Committee said on Wednesday.

Following a meeting with the head of Romania's parliamentary European affairs committee Mehmet Kasim Gulpinar said Turkey's membership had been obstructed for "political reasons, causing disappointment in Turkey."

"As Turkey, we want to move down the path of the EU with the support of Romania," said Gulpinar.

Turkey applied for the EU membership in 1987 and accession talks began in 2005.

Negotiations stalled in 2007 due to opposition from the Greek Cypriot administration, Germany and France.