BRUSSELS, June 30 (Reuters) - Turkey urged the European Union on Wednesday to contemplate the cost of spurning its candidacy as its troubled talks to join the bloc limped a tiny step foward.
The secular but largely Muslim state has made agonisingly slow progress since opening accession talks five years ago, held back by resistance in key EU states as well as by failure to speed up democratic reforms and patch up relations with Cyprus.
Ankara has repeatedly expressed disappointment over the pace of negotiations, covering 35 policy areas known as "chapters", and said the EU needs to recognise Turkey’s importance to the bloc’s foreign policy goals.
"It is time to think … about the cost of leaving Turkey outside," Egemen Bagis, Turkey’s chief negotiator, told a news conference after agreeing on the opening of talks on food safety and veterinary rules with EU officials.
Turkey has concluded only one chapter so far and opened 13.
Deflecting Turkey’s frustration, EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said Wednesday’s move gave "tangible evidence of the commitment of the EU to pursue progress".
But Ankara also needed to speed up reforms and meet its obligations. "This is an issue of credibility for both the EU and Turkey," Fuele said.
Cyprus is blocking the opening of several policy areas because of a row over the northern part of the Mediterranean island which only Ankara recognises as a state. It wants Ankara to open up ports to Greek Cypriot traffic.
Turkey has refused to do so until the EU ends the isolation of northern Cyprus, which broke away in 1974 after a Turkish invasion triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup in Nicosia.
POLITICAL RESISTANCE
Turkey also faces resistance from other EU critics, led by France and Germany, who say cultural differences will make it too difficult to integrate the country into the bloc. France has blocked talks on five areas it says imply eventual membership.
Ankara’s supporters, led by Britain and Sweden, say the EU can benefit from Turkey’s role as an intermediary in the Middle East and needs its cooperation in securing energy supply routes.
U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said this month that rebuffing Turkey’s EU aspirations may be driving it away from the West and pushing it "eastward". His comment drew rebukes from Brussels and Ankara.
Turkey has been engaged in negotiations with Iran on a deal to swap some of its nuclear fuel and voted against the latest round of U.N. sanctions against Tehran.
It also has also sought a mediation role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But ties with Israel have sunk to their lowest level in decades following the deaths of nine Turks in a raid by Israeli commandos on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos who chaired Wednesday’s talks on the last day of Madrid’s six-month EU presidency, said he expected more policy chapters to be opened in the coming months.
"The mainstream of the EU is in favour of membership for Turkey," he said.
