In return, the 28-member bloc promised to accelerate Turkey’s European Union accession bid and introduce a visa-free regime between the two sides.
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He asserted that it is impossible for Ankara to change the country’s counterterrorism legislation.
It seems the “war of words” between Turkey and Europe is escalating over the vissa-free EU travel, after European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker repeated once more that Turkey needs to fulfill the deal, if it hopes its citizens can gain unrestricted access within the EU borders.
Bozkir said negotiations were at an impasse and the European Commission must find a “new formula” to solve it.
“It believes it has a right for itself (to fight terror) but finds it a luxury and unacceptable for us. Let me say it clearly – this is called hypocrisy”, said Erdogan on Thursday.
Turkey concluded a deal with the European Union in March to curb the migrant flow to Europe in return for political incentives including the visa-free travel as well as billions of euros in aid from Brussels for refugees.
But with the Turkish military battling the PKK in the Kurdish-majority southeast, Turkey says it can not change its counter-terror laws.
One of the conditions stipulates that Ankara has to narrow its legal definition of “terror” to prevent recent cases like the prosecution of academics and journalists for publishing “terror propaganda”.
Activists hold banners as they protest against the return of migrants to Turkey, at the port of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos, April 4, 2016.
The threat is not new, but this time it’s addressed to the European Parliament which made it clear that Turkey should not expect a visa waiver if it has not fulfilled all the requirements for the visa liberalisation deal.
But Johannes Hahn, the EU’s enlargement chief, said the Commission wasn’t in a position to reconsider the measure, the Turkish minister said.
Addressing a press conference in Berlin, Schulz said the European Parliament is committed to the EU-Turkey agreement to address the refugee crisis.
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“The “EU-Turkey deal” effectively outsources caring for these people to Turkey in exchange for, amongst other things, a multi-billion euro financial aid package”.
