“Turkey’s EU accession process cannot be restarted under the current circumstances,” emphasized the rapporteur for the European Parliament’s report on Turkey, Nacho Sánchez Amor (Socialists, Spain), during a debate today in the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg.
The report on Turkey, which was adopted in late April by the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, is expected to be put to a vote in the plenary tomorrow, following the tabling of amendments over the past month.
The report’s rapporteur emphasized that for the past 10 years “we have been waiting for good news” from Turkey, yet there has been a “complete lack of willingness” to comply with European principles. He stressed that “Turkey is now a truly authoritarian country” and asked, “What business does an authoritarian country have in the EU?”, while noting that there is a civil society that desires democracy, not authoritarianism. He stressed that “we do not want to destroy their last hope,” but that the rule of law and human rights are prerequisites for EU membership. The accession process “has rightly been frozen” and cannot be restarted without changes to the internal situation.
The report’s rapporteur condemned the detentions and imprisonments in Turkey, including that of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, as well as the intimidation of activists, emphasizing that these actions hinder any progress.
He stressed that, of course, it is necessary to build a functional framework for coexistence with Turkey; however, in this effort, Greece and Cyprus constitute critical and integral pillars of the relationship. At the same time, he stressed that security and defense issues remain central; however, it is clear that serious trust deficits and deviations from the principles of good neighborliness still exist, which must be addressed in a substantive manner.
For her part, Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos stated that the report reflects serious concerns about developments in Turkey, which remains “a key partner, a NATO ally, and a candidate country.” She noted that, despite the strategic goal of accession, “there has been no tangible progress on the rule of law and fundamental freedoms,” while, on the contrary, a regression has been observed since 2018.
The Commissioner for Enlargement referred to the imprisonment of the mayor of Istanbul and the persecution of politicians, journalists, and businesspeople, as well as judicial developments affecting political pluralism, and emphasized that without progress on the rule of law “there will be no possibility of resuming accession negotiations.”
At the same time, he noted that EU-Turkey relations are being revitalized in areas of mutual interest: management of migration flows (with approximately 2.3 million refugees in Turkey), trade (the EU’s fifth-largest trading partner), and the customs union.
Finally, he emphasized that the EU has a strategic interest in stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and in a mutually beneficial relationship with Turkey, taking into account the broader geopolitical balances with Greece and Cyprus.
SOURCE: APE