DAVITOGLU URGING EU NOT TO MAKE "TURKISH EU INTEGRATION PROCESS A DOMESTIC ISSUE"

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
15.05.2009 00:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called
on all European Union member states Thursday not to make Ankara’s
application to join the 27-member bloc a "domestic issue".

"Please do not make the Turkish EU integration process a domestic
issue of discussion," Davutoglu told a press conference in Stockholm,
Hurriyet Daily News reports.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel
have both voiced their opposition to Turkey joining the EU in the
run-up to the European elections on June 7.

Davutoglu said joining the European Union was "a strategic priority"
for Turkey and that the only objective of its negotiations was nothing
less than "full membership".

He was in Stockholm for talks with Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt and
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, ahead of the July 1 start of
the Swedish EU presidency.

Bildt has previously said Germany and France’s position on Turkish EU
membership differs from "the vast majority of countries" who support
Ankara joining.

When Turkey began EU membership talks in October 2005, it opened
discussions on 10 of the 35 policy areas that candidates must
successfully negotiate.

Rehn said negotiations were "steadily moving forward", and that he
had encouraged Davutoglu to pursue reforms "with concrete results in
order to advance fundamental freedoms" in Turkey.

Rehn told reporters he had also discussed Cyprus with Davutoglu.

"We have a serious process of negotiations going on," he said. "It
is still very challenging but we have now a real chance of achieving
a comprehensive settlement."