By KUNA,
Ankara : Turkish Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan said Tuesday that the Turkish government led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was considering new legislation which would enable Turkey to speed up plans to join the European Union.
Turkish News Agency (Anadolu) quoting Toptan, who is currently visiting Slovenia, as saying, “the reform legislation is in regard to banning Turkish parties and criminalizing insults to Turkish nationality, and if approved it will benefit national public freedoms which in turn speed up the joining process.” Turkey is ready to open three new chapters in accession talks with the EU, and hopes to do so before the end of Slovenia’s term as EU president, Toptan said at a joint press conference with Slovenian counterpart France Cukjati.
Turkey launched accession talks with the EU in October 2005 and has so far opened six out of 35 customary chapters, while negotiations on eight chapters have been suspended since the end of 2006 due to outstanding issues with Cyprus.
Toptan added if such proposed reforms fail, new reforms will be presented to the majority in parliament.
When asked whether he supported constitutional changes or early elections to avoid a constitutional crisis, Toptan said it was necessary to reach consensus over changes to the Constitution.