MEP’s want to freeze Turkey’s accession talks

European media outlets, such as Die Presse, Romania’s TVR1, Handelsblatt and Arte, widely report, that MEPs debated the Turkish issue yesterday and that they are calling for a freeze of accession negotiations between the EU and Turkey, in the light of the most recent wave of political purges. L’Echo reports that they will vote on a non-binding resolution tomorrow while TVR1 adds, that even if the vote does not generate effects, it will complicate relations between the European bloc and Turkey even more.

Quoted by The Guardian, Gianni Pittella, leader of the S&D group in the European Parliament, said that “Turkey under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is drifting more and more towards an authoritarian regime. Our political message towards Turkey is that human rights, civil rights and democracy are non-negotiable, if you want to be part of the EU.” Speaking with Arte, Sergei Stanishev, President of the PES, points out that “Turkey is a candidate for entry into the EU and for this, the political criteria are essential. That should be clear to the Turkish authorities. There is no compromise on that,” he stressed.

The Cypriot press quotes statements made by ALDE’s Guy Verhofstadt, underlining that “there is a broad, broad majority” in the EP that is seeking the freezing of “accession talks for the moment” and for the implementation of “a number of conditions to restart them, once Turkey is compliant.” Le Soir notes that Cristian Dan Preda cautions, that Mr Erdoğan could decide to stop everything after the EP’s decision. That is why Member States refuse to take “draconian measures”, points out Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner, Johannes Hahn.

Arte, Dnevnik, Jyllands-Posten, VRT and others say that High Representative Vice-President for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, has warned against taking such a measure; alluding to the EP’s call to urgently put on hold all negotiations between Ankara and Brussels. HRVP Mogherini urged caution, notes Phileleftheros, quoting her: “I think the best way to strengthen Turkish democracy, is by engaging with Turkey, keeping channels open,” she told the EP. “If the accession process came to an end, I believe we would both find ourselves in a lose-lose scenario,” she further underlined.
Polish outlets provide HRVP Mogherini’s opinion on other recent events in the country, considering that perpetrators of the military ‘coup d’état’ should be punished, but that it should not be used as a pretext for suppressing the opposition and violating human rights. She further pointed out that Ankara had to state openly, if it wanted to remain in the club of ‘democratic’ states.

The German press still provides many reactions on the Brussels-Ankara relations. According to diplomats, many European states hope for President Erdoğan to end the negotiations by himself, so they do not have to take responsibility for the termination, Handelsblatt adds. Among today’s commentaries, Till Hoppe considers, in an opinion piece for Handelsblatt, that the EU should now suspend the accession talks with Ankara. According to him, the EU owes this to itself and to its credibility among citizens. While a suspension of negotiations should not mean a cut of all contacts, the continuation raised the impression, that Europe was selling its values, Mr Hoppe further underlines.

In a more critical tone towards the Union, Süddeutsche Zeitung’s Daniel Brössler stresses, that one reason for the continuation of entry negotiations was the EU’s bad conscience, because Turkey has, despite negotiations, never actually been given a chance of entry. Thus, Mr Brössler opines, that the EU may bear partial blame for the end of democracy in Turkey. Along the same lines, an Expresso op-ed says that Europe managed the adhesion negotiations in a way that it ended up betraying true Turkish democrats and Europeists. It adds that Europe behaved in an irresponsible manner with Turkey and the world.

Meanwhile, in an opinion article for Turkey’s Haberturk, Murat Bardakçı stresses that if Ankara has any “self-esteem,” it must “give up on its European dream.” In an opposite point of view, MEP Herbert Reul (EPP) speaks, in an interview with heute.de, of “huge mistake” to describe the potential termination of talks with Ankara as it would be play into Mr Erdoğan’s hands.

In related news, The Guardian also reports that Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the nationalist bloc in Turkey’s parliament, yesterday indicated that the party would support proposals to amend the constitution and grant the President more powers.