Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.29
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Full membership in the European Union is one of the important goals of Turkey's foreign policy, Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan, Ismail Alper Coskun told Trend.
He added that Europe is of political and economic importance for Turkey.
Turkey's aspiration to become a full member of the EU doesn't mean that the country will abandon its priorities in the Middle East and Caucasus, according to the ambassador.
"By holding reforms for accession to the EU, Turkey shows its commitment to this goal," Coskun added.
The diplomat added that Turkey will not back down from this process, just as the EU will not abandon it.
Coskun said Turkey's membership of the World Customs Organization strengthened the country's competitiveness despite some difficulties in this process.
The official negotiations on Turkey's accession to the EU started in 2005.
Earlier reports indicated that around 75 percent of the country's population supported Turkey's accession to the EU, but more recent reports show this percentage decrease to 20 percent.
Turkey has fulfilled 65 percent of its commitments to the EU for accession to this organization.
Edited by CN