Turkey and the European Union opened Chapter 22 on regional policy and the coordination of structural instruments on Tuesday following a three year pause in membership negotiations Today`s Zaman reported.
The chapter opened at the Intergovernmental Accession Conference on Tuesday, which attended by Chief EU Negotiator Egemen Bagıs, Development Minister Cevdet Yılmaz, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fule, EU Commissioner for Financial Affairs Olli Rehn and EU term president and Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius.
The EU took this year's European Commission Progress Report on Turkey into account when deciding whether to restart Turkey's frozen accession process by opening talks on a new policy area.
Though having already agreed in June that Chapter 22 on regional policy would be opened, the EU then delayed the intergovernmental conference until October in retaliation for Turkey's handling of the Gezi Park protests. These protests that swept Turkish cities started in opposition to the redevelopment of İstanbul's Gezi Park but soon became violent through the involvement of marginal groups. Clashes with police left four people dead and around 7,500 injured.
Turkey's accession talks have been frozen for three years.
Turkey began negotiations to join the EU in 2005, 18 years after its first application. But a series of political obstacles, notably the Cyprus issue, and resistance to Turkish membership by key members France and Germany have slowed progress to a snail's pace.
Turkey has only been able to open 13 out of 35 chapters so far, with one of the 13 temporarily closed.
There has been an apparent decline in the Turkish government's drive to pursue full membership of the EU, and at the same time the public also appears less interested in the bid.
A statement Turkish Foreign Ministry released on Tuesday said the opening the chapter after three years is an "important first step" in reviving the accession negotiations.
Ankara also added that Turkey's foremost expectation is that member states lift the block on chapters, which the statement said blocked on political grounds. Turkey said this would guarentee the candidate country's progress in membership negotiations.
"Turkey will continue its works decisively on the path of EU membership," the statement concluded.
On Tuesday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul also hailed the opening the new chapter, describing it "important" after a long time. He added that "Turkey's goal is to successfully complete full membership talks."