Sydney, 21/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 20 February, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Financial Affairs Ali Babacan stated that Turkey could open two additional negotiation chapters this year - but he did not state which ones. Underlining that the current French government is more open than the previous one, and that it has already unblocked a chapter on regional policy (which was opened in November), he said that “we are talking about two additional chapters opened this year”.
In his speech to the Institute of International Finance, Babacan said that for ten years Turkey has been “in a very important process”, and he underlined the importance of “developing and deepening” the process when democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental rights and freedoms are spoken about. “We have already taken the rule of law as the guideline in our process of accession to the EU, which is very important”, he said. The EU has recently criticised several new laws passed in Turkey - such as those on the internet or the justice reform.
Returning to growth, Babacan stated that confidence is the main driver of economic growth, and he emphasised transparency, “zero problem with corruption”, a rules-based market, and competition which functions properly. Turkey will chair the G20 in 2015 (our translation throughout). (CG/transl.fl)