Turkey rejects proposals to drop EU accession talks
ANKARA: Turkey rejects any proposals to drop European Union accession talks in favour of cooperation in other areas, its EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik said yesterday ahead of a European Parliament vote on suspending Turkey’s membership bid.
Speaking during a visit to Ankara by EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn, Celik said it was wrong for EU lawmakers to call for the suspension of Turkey’s membership talks, adding that such approaches would benefit neither side.
“We reject any proposal that there should be strong cooperation between Turkey and the EU in other areas instead of accession talks,” Celik said.
On Wednesday, EU lawmakers called for a suspension of Turkey’s membership talks with the EU, saying President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown on opponents meant Ankara did not meet the bloc’s democratic criteria.
A vote on the proposal was expected to pass comfortably yesterday, but the parliament had limited influence on the issue. The European Commission and EU governments had ignored calls for a formal suspension of a process already in limbo.
Turkey’s ties with its European allies have deteriorated since last July’s abortive putsch, with Turkey accusing European states of not showing enough support.
Relations soured further in the run-up to an April 16 referendum that narrowly handed Erdogan sweeping presidential powers, as tensions between Turkey and the bloc escalated when some European states barred Turkish ministers from delivering speeches to drum up support ahead of the vote.
EU leaders have been critical of Erdogan and his behaviour towards opponents before and after the abortive coup. But they do not want to undermine an agreement struck last year, whereby Turkey effectively stopped migrants reaching Greece, easing a crisis that had threatened EU unity.
Celik said Turkey had noted EU’s criticism regarding its judiciary and freedom of press and expression, but added that the EU was blocking the process by not opening new chapters. Reuters