STRASBOURG
Turkey’s EU membership is a strategic goal, said the country’s European Union minister Volkan Bozkir on Tuesday.
Bozkir spoke to Anadolu Agency after holding a meeting with European Union officials for the first time since the June 7 parliamentary elections in Turkey.
“Whichever political party forms a government, Turkey’s EU membership remains a strategic goal,” Bozkir said, adding that all parties would have to act together in the accession process.
The latest general election has failed to provide a clear majority in parliament as the four parties have not been able to agree on a coalition.
The minister also met with EU enlargement chief Johannes Hahn and European Parliament rapporteur for Turkey Kati Piri to speak about Turkey’s 2014 progress report on EU membership, whıch was rejected by Turkey last month.
The report covered the status of reforms Turkey has made to comply with EU regulations.
Three specific points made the Turkish government reject the report, namely the terming of mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as a “genocide”, the call to declassify of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as a terrorist group and a suggestion of an end to the EU’s economic contributions to Turkey.
Negotiations for Turkey’s accession to the EU began in 2005.
