ANKARA - Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Monday that if the chief negotiator to be appointed by Turkey to carry out accession negotiations with the EU was a politician, this would facilitate the entry talks.
Gul and Nicolas Schmit, the Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs & Immigration of Luxembourg who is currently visiting Turkey, held a joint press conference after their meeting.
Gul said that Turkey`s priority was matters concerning its European Union (EU) membership bid and it would continue to exert efforts with determination on its way to the Union.
FM Gul said that Schmit and himself reviewed initiatives to be carried out in the following six months, and recalled that a frame document on negotiations and a new Accession Partnership Accord would be prepared during this process. Noting that they also discussed Cyprus problem, Gul said the EU should adopt two regulations regarding TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus). Gul said that Turkey-EU Troika would meet at the beginning of next week.
-WHO WILL BE THE CHIEF NEGOTIATOR?-
Answering a question who would be chief negotiator in talks with the EU, Gul said that ``Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and he thought that things would be easier if the chief negotiator was a politician``, and added that Erdogan would announce the negotiator when the time came.
On the other hand, Schmit said that Turkey had fulfilled its responsibilities by making reforms but implementation regarding these reforms was also important.
Schmit stated that as the EU, they also had to do their homework, and therefore they would do their best regarding membership negotiations.
Asked what kind of initiatives the EU would launch as regards regulations on TRNC, Schmit said, ``Luxembourg, as the current EU president, has committed itself to make progress. We aim to adopt these two regulations. We know that there are some problems, but we won`t give up. We are trying to convince all the parties. Initiatives continue regarding this matter in Brussels.``