Turkey asks the EU to take bold steps to advance its membership bid, while the EU urges reforms

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s top diplomat has reaffirmed his country’s resolve to join the European Union and urged the 27-member bloc to take courageous steps to advance its bid. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan made the comments Wednesday during a news conference with the EU’s top official for enlargement. Their meeting in Ankara comes as Turkey is trying to put its strained relations with the EU back on track. The predominantly Muslim country that straddles Europe and Asia became a candidate to join the EU in 1999 and began membership negotiations in 2005. Those negotiations, however, came to a standstill in 2018 over Turkey’s democratic backsliding. The EU official said democratic reforms are needed to move ties forward.