Co-chairman of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee Joost Lagendijk said Friday he hoped that Turkey would resume the reform process following the local elections on March 29.

Speaking to A.A at the end of the first day of a conference on Turkey at New York's Columbia University, Lagendijk said that Turkey had made promises to the EU that it would resume the reform process after the local elections.

In my presentation tomorrow (Saturday), I will talk about Turkey-EU relations from the perspective of the EU, Lagendijk said.

The conference itself focuses on a more extensive topic and the issues are discussed at a theoretical level, Lagendijk said.

However, as a politician, I will speak from a more practical point of view, Lagendijk said.

"Turkey's Justice and Development (AK) Party made many reforms and implemented them during 2003-2004. Nevertheless, the reform process slowed down after these years in Turkey," Lagendijk argued.

A suspicion arose in circles supporting Turkey's EU membership after the slow down in reforms as to whether Turkey was still interested in joining the EU, Lagendijk said.

The developments that took place in the past few months in Turkey are promising, Lagendijk said.

Both Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Deniz Baykal paid visits to Brussels and told us that Turkey is still very much interested in joining the EU, Lagendijk said.

Turkey appointed a new chief negotiator for EU talks and this is a good development for Turkey, Lagendijk said.

Turkey's state-run tv channel TRT began broadcasting in the Kurdish language as of January 1, 2009 and a contact was made with the Alevis, Lagendijk said.

I think that the Turkish government and opposition have resumed the reform process in Turkey, Lagendijk said.

"I believe that Turkey can enter the EU as long as it remains secular. Yet the issue of headscarf in Turkey must be resolved," Lagendijk said.

Lagendijk stressed that he would not run for a seat at the European Parliament in the new term.

"I will begin teaching at Sabanci University (in Istanbul) on the EU and spend most of my time there," Lagendijk also said.

AA