Turkey urged to stick to reform commitment

An EU official today expressed concern that Turkey’s reforms were slowing and urged the government not to lose its commitment to the European Union.

European Commission Vice President Siim Kallas said, however, that it was not uncommon among EU candidates for reforms to come in spurts.

“There have also been slowdowns and more active periods,” among other candidate countries, said Kallas, noting that his homeland of Estonia was one fiftieth the size of Turkey and spent seven years in talks with the EU.

“The concerns that there is a slowing down exist,” Kallas said at a news conference in Ankara. But he added that “you can never lose the commitment.”

Kallas, whose portfolio includes administration and the struggle against fraud, said he was in Ankara “to encourage the Turkish leadership to continue with the reforms”.

In October, Turkey realised one of its historic dreams when it became the first Muslim country to open official negotiations for full membership with the EU.

The EU has called on Turkey to continue with sweeping reforms that have already reduced the power of the military in politics and expanded rights for minority Kurds.

But many Turks have been questioning their commitment to reform as resistance in Europe has grown to accepting a huge, poor Muslim country.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Turkey would continue with EU-oriented reforms, but added that he hoped that negotiations would be “conducted in a positive spirit and on the basis of the principles which were applied to other candidate countries”.