Turkey's EU affairs minister visits Brussels for talks as tensions between the two worsen

Turkey's EU affairs minister visits Brussels for talks as tensions between the two worsen
Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik is visiting Brussels for official meetings and to attend a consultative committee meeting / Wikimedia Commons Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών
By bne IntelliNews July 18, 2017

Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik is visiting Brussels on 18-19 July for official meetings and to attend a consultative committee meeting, the ministry said in a statement.

Celik will meet with the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and deliver a speech at the 36th meeting of the Turkey-EU Joint Consultative Committee which brings together civil society and business organisations from Turkey and the EU, according to the statement.

Celik’s visit comes only days after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the bloc for failing to keep its promises towards Turkey. “They have not kept their promises regarding visa liberalisation and financial aid for refugees… We will sort things out for ourselves. There is no other option,” Erdogan told a crowd in Istanbul on July 15 during an event which marked the first anniversary of the failed coup.

Erdogan also promised to bring back the death penalty if parliament passes it. In response, the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned Turkey over the reintroduction of the death penalty. In an article for Germany’s Bild am Sonntag Juncker said: “If Turkey were to introduce the death penalty, the Turkish government would definitively slam the door on EU membership,” 

“EU's hand remains outstretched to Turkey…Turkey being democratic, stable and economically successful is important to the EU. Turkey should move closer to Europe rather than moving away from us,” Juncker added in the article, according to the Associated Press.

Turkey’s PM Binali Yildirim responded angrily to the comments made by Juncker saying: “No one can make threatening statements on Turkey’s sovereign rights,” Yildirim said on July 18, Hurriyet Daily News reported. “Those threatening to close the EU doors to Turkey should know that the EU needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the EU,” he added.

The government in Ankara accuses the EU of failing to show enough support during and after the botched putsch while Brussels criticised the subsequent massive crackdown on alleged coup plotters and their supporters.

The European parliament adopted a resolution on July 6, calling for the suspension of accession talks with Turkey if the government in Ankara implements constitutional changes promised in the contested referendum in April, which granted sweeping powers to President Erdogan.

 

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