Greece promises continuous support to Turkey's EU accession

Greek Ambassador to Turkey Kyriakos Loukakis said Thursday that Greece will continue to fully support Turkey's European Union (EU) bid process despite the Cyprus dispute, local Anadolu Agency reported. During a meeting with newly appointed Turkish Minister for EU Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Greek envoy pledged that Turkey's EU accession was among Greece's priorities. "I would like to assure that Greek presidency will be very supportive to Turkey's efforts in its EU accession process," Loukakis said, indicating that Greece has given full support to Turkey's EU accession process in the past 10 years. Cavusoglu, who assumed his post last week, hoped new chapters in Turkey's EU accession bid will be opened during Greece's EU presidency which started on Jan. 1. Turkey's accession negotiations with the EU began in 2005, 18 years after its first application. Yet, negotiations have been slow primarily due to the opposition from member states like France, Germany and Cyprus.