Brussels, 13/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 12 September, the permanent representative of Turkey to the EU, Selim Yenel, called on the European Union to be clearer in its intentions towards Turkey.
“We must sit down and find a conclusion on where we are, what type of EU you want - with Turkey or without - because you have been wasting our time for 50 years (and) we're tired”, he said on 12 September at a conference at the Centre for European Policy Studies. Yenel stressed that the relations between the EU and Turkey are - and will remain - numerous and important.
He said that the issue of negotiations was poisoning relations between the EU and Turkey. “We are a country that deserves a clear response”, he stated. “Nobody wants to say that we are not going to continue the accession process - be it the EU or Turkey. But the day will come when this could happen because this is leading nowhere. We are trying to find a way to continue with a kind of relationship that truly affects us”, Yenel added, stating that mistrust is increasing on both sides. He stressed that the Cypriot issue was the main point, “a decisive issue”, to settle so that the accession process could move forward.
Yenel highlighted the importance of opening the accession negotiations chapter on regional policy, which he hopes will happen in “October or November”, while underlining that opening a single chapter “is not enough”. He revealed that Ankara was trying to persuade Paris to unblock the chapter on economic and monetary policy - a chapter which France is blocking unilaterally. Yenel also wants discussions on a visa-free regime to progress, believing that this is first and foremost a political issue.
The European Commission's progress report on Turkey will be unveiled on Wednesday 16 October. (CG/transl.fl)