The European hypocrisy has reached an unprecedented level by expecting Turkey to bear the consequences of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation intervention in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan alone.
Advertisement
The report – which was released on Tuesday but was slated to be published before the 1 November election that swept Erdogan’s party back to power – rebuked Ankara for “serious backsliding” on freedom of expression and said the judiciary had been undermined.
“This report highlights how wrong it would be for the EU to try and should outsource its refugee crisis to Turkey”, said Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the ALDE liberal group in the European Parliament.
The report was unveiled by EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn.
Turkey’s state-owned tea production company has been fined over a TV commercial deemed insulting “ayran”, the country’s yoghurt-based “national drink”, by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Is Turkey heading for a more stable future? He also called for an executive presidential system. Security forces launched a crackdown on Kurdish militants in the southeast, while opposition media also came under pressure.
Mrs Merkel hinted at giving her support for speeding up Turkey’s accession process into the European Union in a “dirty deal” whereby her support would get Ankara’s help on dealing with the crisis and stopped thousands flee Turkey for Europe.
As an emerging market, Turkey has seen its star dim more than most of late.
However, the report underlines that Turkey supported the resumption of the UN-brokered Cyprus peace talks in May and expressed its support for the UN Secretary General Special Advisor’s efforts.
“That set a bad precedent”.
Turkey signed up as an associate member of the European Economic Community, precursor of the EU, in 1963. The three journalists were arrested August 27 in the southeastern town of Diyarkbakir, a Kurdish-dominated city where the PKK – which Washington, Brussels and Ankara all consider a terrorist organization – is active.
His optimistic view of Turkey’s outlook under a turbo-charged Erdogan mirrors the reaction in financial markets, which were critical of Erdogan’s economic policies and pressure on the Turkish central bank but surged on the clear AKP victory because it ended uncertainty.
Yet not all experts are convinced that smooth relations lie ahead. It cited the government’s “policy of war” and “ongoing attacks” for the halt.
Advertisement
On Tuesday Hahn said Turkey’s accession talks could speed up in the event of a peace deal between the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot government and the breakaway Turkish Cypriots in the north of the island who are backed by Ankara.
