Frank-Walter Steinmeier also made a veiled criticism of Turkey's powerful military, saying he hoped «all
forces and institutions in Turkey will fulfill their own responsibilities.»
Last month, the EU warned Turkey to prevent its military from defying civilian leaders after the army threatened to intervene when Parliament appeared set to elect Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as president.
Gul was forced to abandon his bid when the secular opposition boycotted the election in Parliament, objecting to a close ally of the Islamic-rooted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan becoming president.
«I hope that democratic reforms will continue and that after the elections, there won't be any alternative on the issue of Turkey's EU path,» Steinmeier said.
Turkey has been seeking to join the EU for decades, and opened official negotiations to do so in October 2005. But the EU partially suspended the process last December because of Ankara's refusal to recognize EU member Cyprus. The EU is also pressing Turkey to carry out democratic reforms.
Steinmeier spoke after talks between European Union and Turkish officials about the EU bid in their first high-level meeting since the bloc voiced concern about the political turmoil over the presidential election.
Turkey is set to hold early general elections on July 22. Public support for the country's EU bid is waning over the perception that the EU is prejudiced against the Muslim country and biased in favor of Cyprus. Not all political parties running in the elections share the current government's enthusiasm for EU reforms.
The German minister also expressed regret that Turkey failed to take steps to recognize Cyprus and initiate direct trade as a way to make progress with its troubled EU membership bid.
«It is disappointing that the expected development on Cyprus has not occurred,» he said. «It is also disappointing that there is no progress on direct trade.»
Gul said Turkey would continue its reforms _ which include changes to the penal code, the economy and the country's human rights record _ as part of the EU membership process.
«The reform process will continue even stronger,» he said. «We are looking to the future.»
The EU is aiming to open three new negotiating «chapters» with Turkey before July 1, when Portugal assumes the EU's rotating presidency from Germany. The three are economic and monetary affairs, statistics and financial control issues. Turkey has so far opened negotiations in only two areas: science and research and industrial affairs.
A total of 35 negotiating «chapters» must be completed before Turkey can join the EU, and the process is expected to take years.
«Accession negotiations are a very important priority,» said Portuguese State Secretary Joao Cravinho, adding that Portugal was committed to working with Turkey when Lisbon assumes the EU presidency in July.
