ISTANBUL
By Esra Kaymak
Italy, which will hold the rotating EU presidency for the last six months of this year, is keen to open more chapters to facilitate Turkey's accession to the European Union, said Italian Ambassador to Turkey Gianpaolo Scarante.
Scarante told AA in an exclusive interview that the EU negotiation process is 'entering a very dynamic phase' and Italy will work very hard in order to establish more positive cooperation between Turkey and EU.
"Italy is a traditional supporter of Turkey's accession to the Union since the beginning. In order to bring Turkey much closer to the European standards, we have to open more chapters. Otherwise, we can have no mean to help Turkey come much closer to Europe [...] Sometimes bureaucracy and rules of EU are very narrow but we will work in this direction to open more chapters and improve the dialogue between Turkey and EU," the ambassador said.
Scarante stressed they were fully convinced that a Europe with Turkey as an EU member would be better as Turkey with EU.
Scarante stated as of July, they would work in the direction to eliminate if possible different and contradictory opinions in southern Europe, adding this was a difficult task not only for Italy, but for each member country.
He added that Turkey was ready to open chapters also in energy, education and those concerning freedom of expression and the freedom of people and civil society.
"We are confident that the atmosphere is better than in the past," the ambassador said, adding they were confident that some important results for Turkey and for Europe were to be gained during their chairmanship.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
