Ahtisaari along with former Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van den Broek and former Austrian Secretary-General of Foreign Affairs Albert Rohan spoke at a press conference in İstanbul after wrapping up their talks in Turkey. Earlier this week, the group -- which aims at examining the challenges and opportunities presented by Turkey’s possible membership in the EU -- held talks with President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, a state minister and Turkey’s chief negotiator for EU affairs, Egemen Bağış, and main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal.
“The common goal of the negotiations is full membership; I hope that member countries will pay attention to this,” Ahtisaari said, underlining that the commission wants a continuation of Turkey’s EU membership process and a removal of barriers in front of opening negotiation chapters. He warned that the EU side should not create an alternative option vis-à-vis Turkey’s full membership goal.
Van den Broek criticized suggestions from some EU countries that Turkey should be a privileged partner rather than a full member, saying it was important to keep membership prospects alive. “Privileged partnership is a closed debate. The process is aimed at full membership,” Rohan said.
