EU signals to freeze negotiations with Turkey

EU is signalling that they won’t be silent in the face of AKP’s fascist practices any longer.

Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy & Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn spoke in the European Parliament (EP) General Assembly in the name of the European Commission to discuss the relationship between Turkey and the European Union (EU) once again. Hahn said the accession talks with Turkey could be suspended.

Faced with all political groups within the EP displaying a stance summarized as “We can’t continue with the current oppressive Erdoğan regime, suspend the negotiations”, the EU is forced into a more and more difficult situation in the eyes of the European public every day. EU officials are signalling an end to this approach. To this extent, the first authority in EU’s relations with Turkey, Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy & Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, said: “If the Turkish government doesn’t heed the warnings we made and apply appropriate changes until March 2018, we will be submitting a view that the current oppressive practices are unacceptable for the EU and relationships won’t continue further.”

“END THE RELATIONSHIP, IMPOSE SANCTIONS”

Representatives from all political groups within the EP and MPs responsible for foreign relations and human rights presented their criticisms that “a dictatorial regime is taking root in Turkey under Erdoğan’s leadership, negotiations must be suspended and financial aid should be cut off at this point” for two hours. Hahn responded with: “I agree with most of the views from the MPs and the speeches they gave. But we as the EU Commission have to wait for the spring, if the current situation doesn’t change we will be reflecting the situation in our report.”

Hahn pointed to the regression of the Turkey-EU relationship and said that Turkey “needs to take serious and believable steps in human rights matters and relations with certain EU member states”, thus giving the message for the first time that the European Commission will be submitting an opinion to suspend the negotiations unless serious change happens in the relationship with Ankara and their practices.

Some 50 MPs spoke individually or representing their group in the EP General Assembly session yesterday, and expressed the expectation that the Kurdish people’s, minorities’ and other demands for freedom have an effect in Ankara and stated that the current oppression has reached unacceptable levels. MPs spoke about the oppression and arrests of MPs, journalists, mayors and groups opposing the government without any adherence to the norms of a state under the rule of law and criticized the EU’s inability to display a serious reaction or take any action.