Erdogan says EU Parliament vote has ‘no value’

TURKISH President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that a European Parliament vote set to back a freeze of membership talks with Ankara over its relentless post-coup crackdown would have “no value”.

The non-binding vote set for this week threatens to escalate tensions between the European Union and Turkey, which reached new heights in the wake of the July 15 failed putsch. But EU member states, with the exception of Austria, are so far all in favour of keeping the talks on track despite alarm over the extent of the crackdown that has seen almost 37,000 placed under arrest.

“I want to say in advance from here and address the whole world watching on their TV screens – this vote has no value at all, no matter what result emerges,” Erdogan told a meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul. “It is not possible for me to even digest the message that they want to deliver.”

The European Parliament’s main groups said on Tuesday they will vote to freeze membership talks with Turkey because of the crackdown.

Turkey and the EU had agreed to speed up membership talks after both sides reached a deal in March to curb migrant flows towards the EU. But the process has stalled after the failed bid by a rogue group in the army to bring down the Turkish government.

The mass arrests and job dismissals as well as measures against Turkish media in the ensuing crackdown triggered a sharp reaction from EU politicians and rights watchdogs.

Erdogan however remained defiant, saying yesterday that: “Those hands raised up and down [in the parliament vote] will not interrupt this country’s fight for its independence and future.”

He said the vote was an indicator of the fact that the EU took the side of “terror organisations.”

Turkey formally applied to become an EU member in 1987 and accession talks only began in 2005, even though Ankara’s aspirations to become part of the bloc dates back to the 1960s.