ANKARA - ''Allegations affirming that the reforms (regarding Turkey's EU accession process) have come to a standstill are not true,'' said Turkish FM & Deputy PM Abdullah Gul.
In an interview with Turkey Bulletin magazine of the ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP), Gul stressed that the government aimed at inauguration of a TV channel on European Union with the assistance of Turkey's state-run Radio & TV Corp (TRT), to inform Turkish people on Turkey's EU bid.
''The government is aware of the fact that Turkey should speed up the (EU accession) process,'' Gul indicated.
''This new process has three components. The first one is the continuation of democratic reforms. We have prepared eight reform packages so far. The government announced the ninth one. The parliament has enacted some of them and is about to enforce others. The ninth reform package will be passed before the summer recess,'' he stressed.
Gul said that the second one was the adoption of the EU 'acquis', indicating that Turkey would upgrade its standards in the areas of health, environment, transportation and education.
Recalling that the third component of the process was ''communication'', Gul recalled that there were several campaigns to boost exchange of view between Turkish and European peoples.
''We still have some shortcomings regarding democratization, but our government will work hard to remove them during the process,'' Gul noted.