Turkey's membership to increase EU political prowess

ANKARA

Turkey's European Union membership will play a crucial role in increasing the bloc's political prowess, said a joint declaration at the end of a meeting on Thursday held to discuss reforms for the country's stalled EU process.

The sixth meeting of the Reform Action Group was chaired for the first time by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara.

"The time has come for the EU countries to leave aside domestic politics and populism, and to revert to its 69-year-old founding philosophy, and to realize that Turkey's membership in the union would be one of the most meaningful and useful contributions," the declaration read.

Referring to the upcoming European Parliament elections, the declaration said: "We hope that the increasing ideological excesses will not dominate the new European Parliament and that the new formation in the EU institutions will have a more balanced and objective stance."

All adult EU citizens will get a chance to vote in elections on May 23-26 to choose their representatives in the European Parliament.

The declaration added that Turkey's top priority is the visa liberalization dialogue, which will allow Turkish citizens visa-free travel in the Schengen area.

Turkey applied for the EU membership in 1987 and accession talks began in 2005.

But negotiations stalled in 2007 due to objections of the Greek Cypriot administration on the divided island of Cyprus as well as opposition from Germany and France.

In 2016, Turkey and the EU signed a deal aiming to stem the irregular migration flow through the Aegean Sea by taking stricter measures against human traffickers and improving conditions for nearly 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.

The deal also allows for the acceleration of Turkey’s EU membership bid and visa-free travel for Turkish nationals within the Schengen area, on the condition that Ankara meets all 72 requirements set by the EU.

Turkey has long complained of the EU being slow to deliver the promised funds for refugees and failing to uphold its end of the deal concerning visa-free travel.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev