Ankara urges EU to reconsider its enlargement policy

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has written a letter to officials in Europe on the European Union's new enlargement policy.

The letter was sent to EU high representative Josep Borrell, Oliver Varhelyi, commissioner for European neighborhood policy and enlargement negotiations, and Gordan Grlic-Radman, Croatia's minister of foreign and European affairs.

Croatia holds the presidency of the EU Council until July 2020.

In the letter, Çavuşoğlu stressed the importance of conducting the expansion process in a credible, sustainable, fair and flexible manner, highlighting Turkey's accession process to the EU.

The letter drew attention to the importance of the method that is followed during the accession negotiations to the EU and the regional and global role that the EU wants to play in the future.

Çavuşoğlu also said in the letter that when Turkey's negotiations for accession to the EU, which began 2005, are considered, it can be said that the political obstacles faced by candidate countries during accession negotiations harmed the credibility of the accession process.

The letter said the accession negotiations should be carried out based on the common interests of the EU rather than the national interests of some member states.

The letter also drew attention to the importance of Turkey's membership in the EU.

According to the EU's current enlargement policy, 35 separate accession negotiations are opened for candidate countries. When candidate countries succeed in the negotiations or commit to realizing all the necessary reforms, they are accepted to the union as a full member.

The member countries can then take full advantage of the union, including European programs, science grants and the right...