3/15/2010Turkey vows to speed up reforms to meet EU requirements
ANKARA - The Turkish government has promised to accelerate legislative and regulatory reforms in a bid to fulfill EU membership requirements.
Speaking at a joint news conference with visiting EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule, Turkey's chief EU negotiator Egemen Bagis said the Turkish government had adopted a plan in this respect, aiming to introduce wide-scale reforms within the coming couple of years.
Such reforms involve media, judiciary, constitution and administrative, educational and financial regulations, he added.
Turkey began EU membership talks in 2005, but has so far opened negotiations only in 12 policy chapters amid the row on Cyprus as well as opposition from some EU member states to allow such a large and largely Muslim nation into the bloc.
For his part, the EU Enlargement Commissioner urged Ankara to continue its domestic reforms, especially democracy and market liberalization, saying that progress in this respect would equally lead to similar progress in EU access negotiations.
But, he reiterated his support for Turkey's EU membership on the basis that this would boost the strategic significance of the European continent and achieve cultural diversity and cultural enrichment.
KUNA 152054 Mar 10NNNN
