Turkey Progress Report
Accession negotiations must be put on hold
The European Commission will present today its annual report on Turkey’s progress on EU membership.
Commenting ahead of the report, Greens/EFA co-president Rebecca Harms said:
“The EU and its Member States must strongly condemn the recent arrests and call on the Turkish government to restore human rights and the rule of law.
“Accession negotiations with Turkey must be put on hold for as long as the regime continues to flout fundamental rights. This would be consistent with what was agreed by Member States in the 2005 principles governing the negotiations with Turkey.
“It is also clear that visa liberalisation will be impossible so long as the Turkish government fails to respect the necessary conditions.”
Green EU-Turkey relations spokesperson Bodil Valero added:
“So long as the EU-Turkey deal is the only response to the refugee crisis, the Member States leave themselves dependent on President Erdogan. If we want to solve the refugee crisis, the EU must take matters into its own hands. Member States should finally fulfil their commitments on the resettlement of refugees and the EU must stop returning refugees to Turkey.
“We Greens will continue to raise the matter and to support the opposition and others who stand up for human rights, press freedom and rule of law in Turkey. We will call for a debate in the European Parliament on the current situation of HDP and an official delegation of the European Parliament to Turkey.”
