ISTANBUL
Turkish Minister of EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis said that the European Parliament (EP) approved the Turkey progress report for 2012 and that "for the first time, the EP called on the European Commission to open certain chapters to talks with Turkey".
"The EP has called on the European Commission to open several chapters to negotiations as they saw Turkey's performance clearly. They are aware that they are to blame for certain issues they hold Turkey accountable for," Bagis underlined.
Bagis's comments came at a seminar held by Microsoft Turkey as part of the "Open Academy Project".
Touching on the issue of visas, Egemen Bagis said he wanted a little bit more patience from Turks for visa exemption in the EU.
Turkey Report in 2012 more objective than previous year's
Bagis also said that European Parliament's Turkey Report in 2012 was more objective than previous year's.
Bagis stressed that report seemed to be appreciating the Turkish government's determination to continue to make reforms.
As the Turkish government, it is out of question for us to make concessions from reforms, Bagis underlined.
The European Parliament's General Assembly adoptedTurkey's progress report drafted byDutch politician and member of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) Ria Oomen-Ruijten.
The report was accepted by 451 to 75.
Prior to the voting, European lawmakers rejected a proposed amendment to the wording of draft that would leave out a definition of PKK as a "terrorist organization."
A proposal to grant the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus an observer status were rejected by Greece and the Greek-Cypriot administration but European lawmakers decided to refer the issue to the Conference of Presidents.
Lawmakers rejected by a majority of the votes an amendment to invite Turkey to participate at a summit meeting of the European Union in December 2013 in Brussels.
