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'Turkey will be an Asset as an EU Member' - Finnish Prime Minister

Iran Materials 6 July 2006 16:37 (UTC +04:00)

(zaman.com) - Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said on Wednesday that Turkey's accession to European Union (EU) would strengthen the union.

Vanhanen elucidated Finlands agenda for its six-month EU presidency to members of the European Parliament, reports Trend.

The Finnish Prime Minister told a press conference after the parliamentary speech that Turkey's full EU membership would depend on the country's own efforts. "Turkey-EU integration process will take a long time. It is hard to talk about a schedule. But, it would not be within six months."

These remarks by the Finnish leader are the first positive signals from European leaders who have recently criticized Turkey over Cyprus and the pace of progress in reforms.

Turkey commenced actual accession talks with the European Union in June, following its eight-month screening process.

Turkey's EU accession process is expected to be long, arduous and susceptible to crises, especially on Cyprus. Optimistic analysts predict that Turkey, with its large population, could enter the wealthy bloc by 2014 at the earliest.

Vanhanen said that the European Union must remain open to new applicants that meet the membership criteria, underlining that enlarging the EU would lead to stability and democracy.

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