Turkey-EU ties to normalize under Romania's presidency

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - The relations between Turkey and the EU will further normalize during Romania's rotating presidency, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday.

“During Romanian chairmanship, I think Turkey-EU relations will be further normalized," Cavusoglu told reporters ahead of Gymnich, a two-day informal meeting of foreign ministers of EU member states and candidate countries, in the Romanian capital Bucharest.

Cavusoglu said dialogue with the union will also further strengthen and widen. He added EU's enlargement policy, China and Syria will be discussed in the meeting.

The minister announced that Turkey-EU Association Council meeting will be held in Brussels on March 15.

Turkey applied for EU membership in 1987 and accession talks began in 2005. However, negotiations stalled in 2007 due to the objections of the Greek Cypriot administration on the divided island of Cyprus, as well as opposition from Germany and France.