Turkey, EU see 'new spring' as talks resume

(BRUSSELS) - Turkey resumed talks to gain entry into the European Union after a 40-month freeze Tuesday, with both sides hailing a potential "turning point" in Ankara's stalled bid to join the EU club.

"This is only a beginning," said Turkey's EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis after officially opening negotiations on chapter 22, one of 35 sets of rules and standards that EU candidates must satisfy before joining the 28-member bloc.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele called member states to accelerate the negotiations, notably by opening two more chapters -- on rights and the judiciary, and justice, freedom and security -- "very hopefully much sooner than" in another 40 months.

"We need to strengthen our engagement," he said.

Bagis quipped in response: "Stefan, we're ready not only to get engaged but also to get married."

The country of 76 million has complained loudly over the blockages in its negotiations with the EU -- many due to Turkey's long-standing territorial dispute with Cyprus, a member of the bloc since 2004, as well as to opposition from major powers France and Germany.

Bagis welcomed a planned visit by French President Francois Hollande next year and said he hoped he might lift French objections on four chapters, including agriculture and economic and monetary policy.

Chapter 22 on regional development is the 14th chapter opened with Turkey since it began membership talks in 2005, but so far only one has been completed, the chapter on science and research.

In contrast, Croatia began talks at the same time and became the EU's newest member in July this year.

Democratic reforms in Turkey and its key role as neighbour to Syria in global efforts to avoid crisis in the Middle East have helped move forward Ankara's drawn-out campaign to prise open the EU door, however.

In June, the EU agreed to resume the talks but then postponed them for several months in view of an intensifying Turkish government crackdown against protesters at the time.

At a news conference Tuesday both sides were upbeat.

Citing a Turkish saying that there cannot be a spring with only one flower, Bagis said: "We hope this is the beginning to ensure a new spring."

He was also optimistic about current efforts to find a solution to the Cyprus problem, saying he hoped the United Nations might come up with a plan by year's end.

In a much-awaited yearly report last month on the state of democratic progress in candidate countries, the EU's executive, the European Commission, urged EU nations to resume the talks with Ankara.

But it rebuked Ankara for an "uncompromising stance in the face of dissent" and the use of "excessive force" by police against protesters in May and June this year.