Turkish State Minister and chief negotiator for EU talks Egemen Bagis said on Monday that Turkey had a great determination on its EU path and it wanted to see a similar determination from the EU.
Bagis delivered a speech at a meeting of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee, held in Turkey’s southern province of Hatay.
Bagis said that they opened 13 of 33 chapters to negotiations during Turkey’s EU accession process, but there were political obstacles on 17 chapters. "Unfortunately it is impossible for us to close chapters with the decision of the Council. Despite all these problems, we are working to complete this process with a great determination and ambition," he said.
"Despite double standards and difficulties, we are determined to complete the EU process. According to the recent surveys, two third of the people consider that we can be a full member of the EU and support the process. But a considerable part of the public also think that Turkey cannot be a full member. This dilemma is an important message," he said.
Bagis said that Turkey reached an important point regarding the EU accession process in the past eight years.
"Some circles in the EU want to move away from Turkey. But we will struggle against steps and initiatives aiming to force Turkey to leave the negotiation table," he said.