Turkey Hoping to Join European Common Market
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BRUSSELS — Turkey announced Saturday that it plans to apply for full membership in the European Communities despite being its dispute with member Greece over oil exploration rights in the Aegean Sea.
Turkish Minister for European Community Affairs Ali Bozer met the group’s commissioner in charge of Mediterranean policy, Claude Cheysson, on Saturday to tell him that Turkey will formally apply in the near future, a commission official said.
Bozer would not specify a date but diplomats close to the Turkish Embassy here say Ankara will likely make the move in April or, at the latest, by the first week of May.
Turkey has pushed for years to join the Common Market and Saturday’s announcement had been expected for several weeks.
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