Accession of Turkey to the European Union

Turkey's vice president hailed Romania on March 29 for supporting Ankara's efforts to establish "constructive" relations with the European Union.        

As Davutoglu said in Vienna, without Turkey, the EU cannot be a geopolitical actor, while without the EU, Turkey cannot achieve a fully integrated foreign policy and economic development.

The European Parliament's vote to suspend Turkey's EU accession process is "meaningless", the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on March 13.

Greece's conservative main opposition party said on Wednesday it voted against a European Parliament resolution to freeze Turkey's EU accession talks due to the country's backtracking, saying negotiations are a leverage to push Ankara to implement reforms.

Turkey cannot become a member of the European Union, said Manfred Weber, the European Peoples Party's (EPP) lead candidate for the upcoming European elections, adding that he would end accession talks if he becomes European Commission president.

Turkey cannot become a member of the European Union, said Manfred Weber, the European Peoples Party's (EPP) lead candidate for the upcoming European elections, adding that he would end accession talks if he becomes European Commission president.

Turkey and the European Union have agreed in high-level talks held in Istanbul that the existing customs union needs to be upgraded.

The European Union will help finance the construction of a railway line linking Istanbul with the Bulgarian border with the sum of 275 million euros. This was announced by European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen at a joint press conference in Istanbul with Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeebecki, the Associated Press reported.

Turkey criticized on Thursday as "unacceptable" a vote by the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee calling for the suspension of EU accession negotiations with it.

In the heart of Athens, at a minimalist conference hall overlooking the columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, respected Turkish journalist and researcher Asli Aydintasbas took the floor to talk about how today's Turkey is at a crossroads.