The Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Ermine Erdogan.Photograph: Henning Kaiser/AFP/Getty images
Erdogan in Brussels as Turkey's EU ambitions face decisive year
Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, arrived in Brussels last night for the first time in four years, with the aim of resuscitating his country's flagging efforts to join the European Union.
Diplomats and senior officials in Brussels believe that this year is likely to be decisive for Ankara's EU ambitions.
Erdogan's first visit to the EU headquarters since membership negotiations began in 2005 could signal a shift in his government's European policies, following two years of power struggles at home and a souring of relations with the EU. The prime minister has appointed a close aide, Egemen Bagis, to take charge of the European negotiations and has established a government department for EU talks.
"Better late than never," said Cengiz Aktar, an analyst at an Istanbul university. "After four years of negotiations, the prime minister has done the right thing by appointing a sole minister to run EU affairs in this country."
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