EU foreign chief: Debate needed on Turkey’s negotiation chapters

Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s new foreign affairs chief, said Wednesday that countries with different viewpoints needed to debate why only one chapter had been completed in Turkey’s accession bid.

Asked by a European Parliament deputy about Turkey’s chances of joining the EU in the next 10 to 15 years, Ashton said Turkey had completed negotiations on only one chapter out of 32.

Ashton said that member countries had different thoughts on the EU’s enlargement and that they needed to discuss how to better the bloc’s relations with Turkey. She said the fact that only one chapter had been completed was a reason to start a debate.