Turkish State Minister and Chief EU Negotiator Ali Babacan told an international business audience in Istanbul on Friday that the technical steps toward Türkiye's EU accession could be finished well ahead of the full membership process, even if that process ultimately takes eight to 10 years.
Babacan spoke at the South-East Europe 2006 Summit, organized by Stockholm-based East Capital, where he outlined Türkiye's reform drive along two tracks: democratic and legal progress on the political side, and structural improvements on the economic side. He said the political reforms had been carried out thoroughly enough that outside observers had labeled them a "silent revolution."
He noted that governing as a single-party administration had made it easier to push reforms through, and that political stability was essential to sustaining economic stability. On the EU negotiation schedule, he said screening across 25 chapters was expected to conclude within 12 months.
Babacan described the economic program as resting on three pillars: strengthening both the public and private sectors, granting independence to the Central Bank, and reforming the financial sector. He expressed confidence that trust in Türkiye's economy would hold and that internal differences over direction would be resolved.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in March 2006, in its own words.