by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Despite the hopes recently expressed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to strengthen ties with the European Union, local experts see little room for unlocking the impasse in this relationship characterized by Turkey's long-stalled accession bid.

"Despite all the injustices we face, the full membership to the EU remains our strategic priority. We continue to strive in this direction," Erdogan said at a meeting with EU ambassadors on Jan. 13 in the capital Ankara.

"As a candidate country, we are ready to strengthen our cooperation and dialogue with the EU. It is in our common interest to act with a long-term strategic perspective rather than prejudices or fears," the Turkish president added.

Formal negotiations over Turkey's accession to the EU began in 2005, but the process has de facto been suspended by Brussels, citing Ankara's inability to fulfill the required membership criteria.

In response, Turkey has been calling on the EU to avoid any political decision and adopt a more adequate and honest approach toward it.

"At least in 2022, we don't expect any progress in accession talks nor other outstanding issues such as the update of the customs union and visa liberalization, demanded by Ankara for years," Serkan Demirtas, a Turkish foreign policy analyst, told Xinhua.

In fact, divisions between Turkey and the EU on a number of issues are too wide to be resolved anytime soon, as "neither have name significant steps in reciprocal requirements to move forward," said Demirtas, also the Ankara bureau chief for Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News.

EU Ambassador to Turkey Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut told correspondents on Thursday that Turkey and the EU are working on a "positive agenda" the European Council outlined previously, but said this development does not allow for the continuation of accession negotiations.

"The relations between Turkey and the EU were shallow at best in 2021. No progress was made in addressing significant issues," said Talha Kose, a researcher from the Ankara-based think-tank Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research.

"The expectations on improving Turkish-EU relations are very low for the agenda of 2022. There seems to be a lack of motivation and political will in both Ankara and Brussels to boost the ties in the short term," Kose added.

All surveys made in Turkey in recent times have pointed to an erosion of trust and a disillusionment of the Turkish public opinion with the 27-member European bloc, as a strong majority of Turks don't believe anymore that their country will ever be a full member of the EU.

The Turkish-EU ties reached the boiling point in 2019 amid a dispute between Turkey and EU member Greece over maritime jurisdiction and rights to offshore energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean.

Besides the tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey's role in Syria and the migrant crisis, among others, all contribute to the stalemate in Turkey's accession negotiations with the bloc.

Turkey currently hosts some 4 million Syrian refugees, the largest refugee population in the world.

In March 2016, the EU struck a deal with Turkey to stem the flow of refugees into Europe, according to which Turkey should take in Syrians fleeing war in their country in exchange for billions of euros for the project.

"We have significant contact on this topic with all related parties in Brussels. We can only wish to have adequate and similar discussions concerning other pending issues as well," a Turkish diplomatic source told Xinhua, declining to be named. Enditem

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