Powell keeping tabs on Turkey’s EU bid

Powell spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul Wednesday to discuss recent developments, a State Department spokesman said.
“The secretary spoke this morning with Foreign Minister Gul, just to, kind of, check in and see where things are,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a press briefing in Washington.
“I think Foreign Minister Gul is already in Brussels working with the European Union there,” Boucher said. And we’ll continue to keep in touch with Turkish leaders on the subject.”
The US has long supported Turkey’s EU aspirations, though at times this support has displeased some EU members, who feel Washington has tried to apply pressure on Europe in support of its NATO ally.
However, during his press conference Boucher stressed that any decision on Turkey’s bid lay with the EU.
“As the secretary said about four times last week: All these matters are matters for the Europeans to decide,” he said. “We believe that Turkey has gone a long way in meeting the requirements of membership and the requests that were asked of Turkey, and it will be for the Europeans to make that judgement themselves.”