Turkey, European Union A cautious opening of the door to accession talks: "Turkey, European Union A cautious opening of the door to accession talks
Turkey's march towards membership of the European Union took a step forward when EU leaders agreed at their summit last week to open accession talks with Turkey on October 3 next year, but that Ankara must recognize Cyprus before then. Negotiations could begin, Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende, the EU's current chairman, told a news conference after late-night talks in Brussels. "It will start on the third of October next year". He underlined that the fact that talks would begin did not guarantee the candidate country would eventually be accepted as a full member. But the leaders agreed to "demand to Turkey to ratify the [expanded] Ankara Agreement", Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson told reporters.
A protocol to the agreement, Turkey�s founding association accord with the EU�s forerunner the European Economic Community and signed in 1963, must be updated to encompass the EU�s 10 new member states including Cyprus.
Signing the protocol would imply de facto recognition "
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