European Parliament to suspend accession negotiations with Turkey

Instead of approaching the European Union by cooperating on a military logistics project, as was hoped, the European Parliament rejects Turkey.

BRUSSELS / ANKARA – Accession negotiations between Turkey and the European Union, which have continued since 2005, appear to have reached a new low. In a report, the European Parliament has now considered suspending Turkey’s accession negotiations, which have been on hold for a long time. This move is justified, according to information from the German news agency, by the fact that Ankara, with its “hostile policy,” is moving further and further from the values ​​and standards of the European Union.

MEPs see major setbacks in Turkey in terms of basic rights and rule of law as well as institutional reforms. Last but not least, they criticize the foreign policy of the Turkish government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as being hostile – also towards the European Union and its member states. At the same time, members of the European Parliament indicated the necessity of continuing close dialogue and cooperation with Turkey in the field of foreign and security policy. They continue to advocate for visa liberalization and want to support residents in Turkey. Instead of continuing accession negotiations, according to the German news agency (DPA), “new models for future relations will be found.”

Turkey, led by Erdogan, still wants to join the European Union: expect “constructive efforts”

Turkey responded to the proposal with little enthusiasm. The report on which the MEPs’ proposal is based is “one-sided and by no means objective, and it comes at a time when one is trying to revive relations between the European Union and Turkey within the framework of a positive agenda.” The ministry said in Ankara. As a candidate for EU membership, Turkey expects “constructive efforts” from the European Parliament to improve relations with Turkey instead of offering a platform for “irrelevant and blind allegations”.

Recently, Turkey has made efforts to participate in a multi-billion dollar project to improve military mobility within the framework of Organized Permanent Cooperation (Pesco). Since opening up to countries outside the European Union at the beginning of May, 24 members of the European Union plus the United States, Canada and Norway have participated in the project established by the European Union. Turkish expert Gerd Höller, who spoke about the Turkish ambitions of the German liberation network, sees Erdogan’s attempt to keep the back door open to the European Union: “With Pesco, Turkey wants to prove that it is indispensable to European security policy. Erdogan is now primarily hoping to obtain German support – and fast: he knows he will lose Angela Merkel, his most loyal supporter in the European Union, after the general elections.

The United States with heavy criticism of Turkish Head of State Erdogan: Reprehensible anti-Semitic statements

The president of the US reprimanded her last week after Erdogan used stereotypical anti-Semitic phrases in a speech he gave on Monday (May 17, 2021). “The United States strongly condemns the recent anti-Semitic statements made by President Erdogan regarding the Jewish people,” the German news agency DPA quoted a US State Department spokesman as saying. The Turkish Foreign Ministry also rejected the US criticism on Wednesday, saying that Erdogan’s statements on Monday did not refer to Jews, but rather to the Israeli government that killed “innocent Palestinians”, the majority of whom are women, children and youth. (SCA with dpa and RND)