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EU urged to call off Turkish accession talks EU minister says Turkey still on track to join bloc despite calls to stop accession
(about 9 hours later)
The EU is coming under fresh pressure to end Turkey’s hopes of joining the bloc before talks on Tuesday between senior Brussels officials and the Turkish foreign minister. The EU’s foreign policy chief defied calls for a tougher line on human rights abuses in Turkey to insist the country remains on track to join the bloc.
Manfred Weber, the German leader of the largest party in the European parliament, called for the long-running negotiations on Turkish membership to be brought to an end as concern grows that Ankara is moving further away from EU values following the recent detention of human rights activists. Federica Mogherini, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, told reporters on Tuesday that it was important to keep a dialogue open with Ankara. “Clearly Turkey is and stays a candidate country,” she told reporters. “Many of our colleagues prefer to focus on the red lines. I prefer to focus on what we have in common.”
“The EU should set itself the goal of ending the accession talks,” said Weber. The statement, following talks with Turkish ministers, came despite growing pressure on Brussels to show its condemnation of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president, since the attempted coup last year and the jailing of 50,000 people pending trial over alleged links to the plotters.
The local director of Amnesty International in Ankara and five other activists have been held in custody in recent weeks on accusations of belonging to a terrorist organisation. Four other human rights campaigners were re-arrested over the weekend after being released on bail. Salil Shetty, the secretary general of Amnesty International, said the EU should look to using a host of levers, including its funding to the Erdoğan regime, to persuade it to release human rights activists. Six campaigners, including the local director of Amnesty International, have been held in custody in recent weeks after being accused of belonging to a terrorist organisation. Nearly 900,000 people have signed a petition calling for their release.
The EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, Federica Mogherini, the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, and its EU affairs minister, Ömer Çelik, are meeting in Brussels on Tuesday evening. Discussions are expected to touch on Ankara’s EU accession, immigration, Turkey’s demands for visa-free travel for its citizens, the fight against terrorism and energy and trade ties. Manfred Weber, chair of the centre-right European People’s party, also called on the EU to give “itself the goal of ending the accession talks” with Turkey over the crackdown. “The EU has repeatedly extended its hand to Turkey through various initiatives but Turkish president Erdoğan has consistently spurned it,” he said. “Turkey’s accession to the EU makes no sense.”
The German government has taken a tougher line on Turkey than the EU as a whole since the failed coup last summer. Since then, 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial. Johannes Hahn, the EU’s enlargement commissioner, admitted there were concerns among the member states about the direction of Turkey in recent years, including the constitutional changes made since the referendum last year. “That is why member states have clearly stated that under the current circumstance the the opening of new chapters [in the accession negotiations] is not possible but they have clearly denied to suspend or terminate negotiations,” he said.
The German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, has accused the country of acting like communist East Germany by arresting people and denying them consular help. Berlin has also warned about travelling to Turkey and accused its courts of inventing links between human rights organisations and terrorist groups. However the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, and its EU affairs minister, Ömer Çelik, remained defiant during the joint press conference with Mogherini and Hahn on Tuesday afternoon.
Weber said he was pleased that the German government had spoken out about the detention of the activists, including a German national, but it was time for Brussels to show equal nerve. Çavuşoğlu said the Turkish regime made no apology for arresting “pseudo journalists” and human rights activists who they believed played a role in the plot to oust Erdoğan last summer. “They need to face the sentences that are necessary”, he said.
“Turkey is clearly moving away from the European Union and our values,” Weber told the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. “The EU has repeatedly extended its hand to Turkey through various initiatives but President [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan has consistently spurned it. Turkey’s EU accession makes no sense.” He suggested that the Amnesty International member of staff detained had been in communication with a terrorist organisation. He also attacked the EU for “taking nearly a year” to show solidarity with Turkey since the attempted coup.
Salil Shetty, the secretary general of Amnesty International, said he also believed that, beyond ending the accession talks, the EU had a strong hand to play. “From Turkey’s obligations as a member of the Council of Europe, the funding it receives from the EU, its membership of the customs union, the EU has lots of levers,” Shetty said, following a morning meeting with Mogherini. In response to claims that Turkey’s accession to the EU should be blocked, Çelik dismissed the suggestion and said that such a move would be a blow to both the EU and Turkey.
Shetty said that he had passed on a petition signed by 900,000 people calling for the release of the activists. “She took the petition and said she would pass the message to the minister,” he said. “But the EU needs to offer more than words.” Çelik said talks should instead be stepped up. “After the Brexit decision we are pleased to see the EU continues to be strong,” he said. “It’s our common future.”
Erdoğan has responded to German statements aggressively in recent days, accusing Berlin of meddling in Turkey’s internal affairs. “Our judiciary is more independent than theirs,” he said last week. The German government has taken a tougher line on Turkey than the EU. The German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, has accused the country of acting like communist East Germany by arresting people and denying them consular help. Berlin has also warned about travelling to Turkey and accused its courts of inventing links between human rights organisations and terrorist groups.
Erdoğan has responded to German statements aggressively in recent days, accusing Berlin of meddling in Turkey’s internal affairs. “Our judiciary is more independent than theirs,” he said last week. The Turkish ministers in Brussels accused Germany of double standards but spoke of a need to improve relations.