Turkish chief negotiator talks about EU process

Turkey's EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis on Wednesday said, "There only two options which can stop this (EU) process. Either Turkey step backs from the EU process or the EU stop this process with a consensus of their members." Bagis said during his visit in Kayseri that they want to reach and offer the citizens of the Turkish Republic high standards of living, if they want or not. He called on the Turkish people who live in EU countries to be citizens of those countries and vote in these countries and to "use their democratic rights until satiated". Ankara warns EU "not to show disproportionate reaction to incidents in Turkey." While EU members discuss opening of the regional policies chapter on June 26, they were faced with Ankara's warning of "not to show disproportionate reaction to the incidents in Turkey." "After 3 years of stalling negotiations a chapter is to open on June 26. We are concerned with a possible disproportionate EU reaction on events," said Permanent Delegation of Turkey to the EU via its Twitter account. At a technical meeting of the member countries in Brussels on Tuesday, 25 of the 27 countries adopted a common position to open the negotiation chapter on "regional policy and coordination of structural instruments" on June 26, while Germany and the Netherlands opposed it. Although the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) of the EU ambassadors were to meet on Wednesday to talk about the opening of the new chapter, the meeting has been delayed to Thursday as reconciliation chances were considered slim. Anti-Turkey front led by Germany is expected to be joined by Holland and possibly Austria. A diplomatic source told Anadolu Agency that Gezi Park incidents complicated the situation of states supporting Turkey for the opening of the new chapter. In case of the new chapter not opening, Ankara is expected to give a harsh response followed by cancelling Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting to be held in Ankara and recalling Ambassador Selim Yenel.