British FM Straw: I am not sure about the results
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With talks involving EU foreign ministers going late into the night in Luxembourg on Sunday, EU term president England and its main representative, Foreign Minister Jack Straw, were unable to convince an unwilling Austria to budge regarding its stance on Turkey. Referring to talks scheduled to go through this morning and afternoon, British FM Straw's words about the likelihood of being able to change Austria's request for a "priviliged partnership" for Turkey took a pessimistic tone: "I am not sure I will be able to get a result today, we are up against difficulties presented by one country."
Jack Straw speaks with Abdullah Gul
Jack Straw and Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul reportedly spoke by phone last night, with Straw promising to relay details of Gul's words to the other EU ministers. Meanwhile, it was reported that Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik was also carrying on meetings with Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Yorgo Yakovu and Greek Foreign Minister Petros Molivyatis, as well as other EU Commission members.
"Turkey has carried out important reforms"
"We are at a difficult stage," said FM Straw, "I hope that we can attain a result which will bring the Turkish delegation here. There are some serious difficulties."
British Minister Alexander: We insist on full membership negotiations for Turkey
EU term president England's Minister for European Affairs, Douglas Alexander, said that his country was insistent on giving Turkey the goal of full EU membership during the accession talks. Responding to reporters' questions, Minister Alexander said "We continue to hope for a solution to this all."