European Parliament President Martin Schulz stated on Thursday that the EU wanted to “deepen ties” with Turkey after a meeting in Ankara with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, reported POLITICO.
Making the first visit by a leading EU politician to Turkey since the July 15 failed coup, the senior German Socialist politician reiterated that Ankara must protect basic human rights, but also praised the Turkish people after “frank, open and productive” talks with Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and other government officials.
“I have paid tribute to the courage of Turkish citizens who took to the streets to defend democracy and derailed the plan of the plotters,” Schulz said in a statement. “Our ties are strong and must be deepened. Turning our backs to each other would only harm citizens on both sides.”
However, without criticising the government directly, he warned that democracy required not only elections, but also a free press and separation of powers.
Schulz said that while he understood the government’s response to the coup required “exceptional measures” to safeguard democratic institutions, “the state of emergency should not fail the test of proportionality and of the rule of law.”
NO CHANGE TO TERROR LAWS
Yildirim told Schulz that there would be no change in the country’s anti-terrorism laws – a key condition of a visa-free travel agreement between the EU and Turkey, reported Anadolu Agency.
“We once again reiterated that we cannot make an adjustment to the anti-terror laws due to the circumstances that we face today,” he told a joint news conference with Schulz.
Yildirim said the anti-terror laws were a matter of Turkey’s security as well as Europe’s fight against terrorism.
Both Yildirim and Schulz pointed to Europe and Turkey’s difference of opinion on anti-terrorism practices.
Schulz outlined that there has been no progress towards the visa-free travel deal due to these differences, while Yildirim stressed that “flexibility in anti-terror laws is out of the question”.
KEY PARTNERS
The EU’s Migration Commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos, who is overseeing the Turkey-EU migration deal, was also in Ankara on Thursday and echoed Schulz’s comments.
“The EU is a key partner of Turkey,” Avramopoulos told Omer Celik, Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister, at a joint press conference.
Avramopoulos’ only hint of criticism was to warn that fighting against terrorism “should never be at the expense of the fundamental rights of our citizens,” reported POLITICO.
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