Turkey began its EU accession negotiations in 2005 but made little progress in its candidacy, thanks to a dispute with EU-member Cyprus and opposition from French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Turkey's membership. Sarkozy argued that the predominantly Muslim country is not a part of Europe and wanted Turkey to accept some kind of a special partnership with the EU instead of full membership – an offer Turkey rejected.
Now that Socialist Francois Hollande has replaced Mr Sarkozy as France's president, Turkey hopes he will be more sympathetic to the candidacy of a country that has one of the world's fastest growing economies and is becoming a regional diplomatic player.
"With the coming to power of Mr Francois Hollande, we are all hoping that a new course in the Turkish-EU relations will gain momentum," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said this week, during a joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.
Little is known about Mr Hollande's stand regarding Turkey's EU membership, apart from a comment he made on France-2 television on April 12 during his campaign for the presidency. During it, he said France has long accepted the principle of Turkish accession to the EU but that major conditions have not been met and that may not happen for several years to come.
On Thursday, Turkey and the EU are to open talks aimed at bringing Turkey's membership bid back on track, and the Turkish government announced this week that its Parliament will soon vote on a series of draft laws designed to help advance its bid. » | Source: AP | Wednesday, May 16, 2012
