Turkey's chief EU negotiator welcomes progress report

Istanbul - Turkey's chief European Union negotiator, Egeman Bagis, has welcomed the bloc's latest progress report on the country. Speaking at a Wednesday press conference, Bagis called the report "the most objective report so far."Responding to the report's singling out of a tax-evasion case against media group Dogan Media Holding, a vocal critic of the current government, as damaging the freedom of the press, Bagis said the case was an internal Turkish matter.

"The tax fine imposed on the Dogan group is a matter for the Turkish Finance Ministry, not foreign authorities, and if it can't solve it, it is a matter for the Turkish judicial system," he said.