Swedish ambassador: Turkey close to EU membership

Swedish Ambassador in Ankara Hakan Akesson has said, "Turkey is very close to become a member of EU as it is both financially and economically important for EU." Akesson told AA that Turkey had made significant reforms in last decade and was still making new reforms. They attached special importance to steps taken during preparation of the new constitution, which were important also for Turkey on its path to become an EU member, stated Akesson. Akesson said that Turkey was important for EU in terms of politics and economy. "In this respect, EU needs Turkey and Turkey needs EU." He added that Sweden supported Turkey's membership bid and said, "Turkey's EU membership process has started in 2005. Sweden is very happy for it. We need to look forward and exert efforts to finish this process successfully. Turkey is preparing to become a member of EU and it has to fulfill other reforms, too, for the membership. One of the most important reforms is the latest studies on the new constitution. Turkey is very close to become a member of EU. We believe that Turkey's membership would contribute a lot to EU. The completion of Turkey's membership to EU is depended on new reforms and efforts. We support these and hope the process would conclude in a short time. Turkey means a lot for EU, both politically and economically." Akesson said democracy, human rights and superiority of law are common values of the member countries of EU. "Now, there is a huge Muslim population in EU. So, the common values of EU member countries should not be correlated to religion."