Chief negotiator outlines Ankara's "five demands" from EU

A fair negotiation process tops the list of five Turkish demands for establishing healthy relations between the European Union and EU-aspirant Turkey, State Minister and Chief EU Talks Negotiator Egemen Bagis said on Monday. "Turkey wants a just negotiation process," Bagis told a dinner he hosted for members of the Diplomatic Correspondents' Association (DMD). "It wants an end to this nonsensical mentality on the visa issue; it wants concrete cooperation against terrorism; it wants an end to using the Cyprus problem as an obstacle; and it wants its leaders to be invited to EU summits alongside other candidate countries." He added, "It's not wrong to voice these demands," saying that Turkey won't be the one to end the negotiation process. "Turkey won't fall by the wayside. We're determined to continue down the road we started in 1959," he said. Although Turkey began full membership negotiations in 2005, it has only been able to open 13 out of 35 chapters, and completed only one. Apart from three chapters that it can still open, the remaining are blocked by the EU or by individual member countries, mainly due to the Cyprus problem. "There are some circles who are trying to put hurdles before Turkey's EU process," said Bagis. "These circles are using every opportunity for this." On Turkey's refusal late last year to open the chapter on competition during Belgium's EU presidency, Bagis said the EU had introduced benchmarks never before required of other candidate countries. Complaining about EU visa procedures for Turkish citizens, Bagis said: "Turkey doesn't deserve this. Asking [Turks to get] a visa for the Schengen zone, where citizens of Paraguay and Uruguay can travel freely, pains me."