Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan has remarked that his country will be prepared to join the 27-nation European Union by the year 2013.
"We have full determination to join the EU. By the year 2013, Turkey will say it is ready, but we don't know if the EU will be ready for it," Babacan told a joint conference with his Latvian counterpart Maris Riekstins in Riga on Thursday, Hurriyet newspaper reported.
The Turkish official added, "We are not in a big rush. Turkey three or four years from now will be different than it is today."
"Turkey has launched a four-year plan aimed at reforming its economy and other areas required for the country's EU membership," Babacan explained.
Turkey began EU membership talks in October 2005.
The minister highlighted that EU membership constituted 'a strategic goal' for Turkey, adding that his country would continue implementing European Union reforms despite efforts by certain countries to slowdown the membership process.
Foreign Minister Riekstins reiterated his country's support for Turkey's membership bid. Latvia entered the European Union in 2004.
Ankara is aiming to comply with EU accession criteria by 2013. Brussels however has not endorsed Turkey's target date.
Turkey began EU membership talks in October 2005. It has so far opened discussions on only 10 of the 35 policy areas that candidates must successfully negotiate.
Ankara first began this process in the early 1980s under President Turgut Ozal and other reforms aside, the biggest sticking point against its membership has been the fact that it is Muslim majority nation and would be the first Muslim country in the ranks of the EU.
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