Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Verhagen and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu met at the Dutch-Turkish bilateral conference (Wittenburg Conference) yesterday to discuss Dutch-Turkish relations, Turkey's accession negotiations with the EU and the situation in the Middle East.

The Netherlands will act strictly but fairly iln examining whether Turkey complies with the criteria for joining the European Union. That was foreign minister Maxime Verhagen’s message today following talks in The Hague with his new Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoðlu.

‘A positive outcome to the negotiations between Turkey and the EU countries is not a foregone conclusion,’ said Mr Verhagen.

‘Turkey will only be able to join if it continues with its reforms and complies with all the European criteria.’

He added that the implementation of the reforms needed improving but the past few months had seen favourable developments. The position of the Kurdish minority had improved, and relations with neighbouring Armenia had been further normalised. But Mr Verhagen did not want to predict the findings of the European Commission’s forthcoming progress report on the negotiations with Turkey.

The Netherlands praised Turkey's stabilising role in its region and in the Middle East. ‘Your country is worthy of its reputation as a bridge connecting East and West,’ Mr Verhagen told his counterpart. The two ministers also discussed their concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme and called on Iran to comply with the UN Security Council’s resolutions.

Click here for the speech of Minister Verhagen at the Wittenburg Conference.

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