Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters that there were “strong signals” that Cyprus would remove its veto on five negotiation chapters for Turkey’s accession to the EU. After the Reform Action Group meeting composed of EU, interior and justice ministers, Davutoglu said that a blockade on five chapters could be lifted.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker named these chapters in a letter that indicated that these would open as early as 2016. “We will hopefully open Chapter 17 on Dec 14. This will be the second chapter opened in the last five years. At this pace, we can only conclude the accession process in the next century,” he said. “But we are working as if we will open all chapters tomorrow and we will close all opened chapters in a short span of time.”

Davutoglu also said that the visa liberalization process would be accomplished by the late 2016.