EU opens new talks on letting Turkey into club

Despite cool statements from Ankara, negotiations on financial affairs to begin in long-stalled bid for membership in European bloc

The European Union agreed Thursday to open a new negotiating chapter with Turkey on its long-stalled bid for membership of the bloc, an EU source said.

The decision was part of an EU agreement in March to speed up accession talks in return for Turkey helping to control the massive inflow of migrants, mostly fleeing Syria, which overwhelmed the bloc last year.

In order to be considered for accession to the European Union, countries must meet conditions in 35 “chapters” relating to various areas of administrative and institutional infrastructure.

The EU source gave no further details, with a formal statement expected shortly after a meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and top bloc officials in Brussels.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks at a press conference in Ankara, on June 22, 2016. (AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN)

Muslim-majority Turkey formally launched its membership bid in 2005 and since then the EU has opened 15 chapters out of the 35 required to join the bloc.

So far, however, only one chapter has been completed, with disagreements over Turkey’s human rights record a cause for concern in many EU states and blocking progress.

The new chapter, number 33, covers finance and budget affairs.

Under the March agreement, the EU also agreed to boost aid to Turkey to cope with millions of refugees on its territory and to speed up visa liberalization.

Recent statements by senior Turkish officials, however, have put into question Turkey’s commitment to joining the European Union.

After last week’s UK vote to leave the European Union, in which Turkey’s EU membership bid and migration crisis deal was a key part of the pro-Brexit campaign, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said he believed the EU “should look at these [Brexit] developments and review its future vision.”

A week earlier President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey could hold its own referendum on whether or not to continue its EU accession process.

Turkish deputy premier Nurettin Canikli meanwhile warned that “the period of the disintegration of the European Union has begun. And the first vessel to have departed is Britain.”

The latest move towards EU membership comes days after a deal was struck to restore full diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and Ankara in return for Turkish commitments to tackle terrorism and remove opposition to Israel in international forums and and Israeli promises to allow Turkish aid into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.