EU officials meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul in Vienna on Wednesday urged Turkey to persist with economic and social reforms, DPA reported. "We hope that there will not be a decline of the reform momentum in Turkey," Ursula Plassnik, Foreign Minister of Austria which currently holds the EU presidency, said after the talks. Gul rejected speculation that reforms were grinding to a halt in Turkey, saying they were still being carried out "because the Turkish people need them. "It's not happening under pressure," he added. Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country is set to take over the EU presidency from Austria in July, and EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Olli Rehn, also attended Wednesday's talks. At a press conference, Plassnik said the goal was "a Turkey committed to European values" and pointed out that the pace of membership negotiations with Turkey did not depend on the EU alone. Gul said that his first meeting with the EU since the formal start of Turkish membership negotiations last October had been "positive and successful" while warning the talks must not become embroiled in "political questions."
