Turkey considers dumping the European Union
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Ankara could "separate" from the EU if necessary, following the publication of a European Parliament report dismissing the possibility of Turkey joining the EU soon.
The report instead suggests that the EU explores “a parallel and realistic framework”, such as a customs union, to determine its ties with Ankara. “The EU is trying to break away from Turkey,” Erdogan told reporters. “We will make our own assessments regarding these developments and, if necessary, we can separate from the EU.”
Turkey's Foreign Ministry said the European Parliament report contained unfounded accusations and biases and took a "superficial and non-visionary" approach to the country's ties with the EU.
Visa liberalization, which would grant Turkish citizens visa-free travel to the bloc for long periods, is one of the main reasons Turkey wants to join the EU. Many Turkish citizens work in EU states, particularly Germany, and Turkey's EU membership would free them from the difficult bureaucratic process needed to obtain visas.
The European Parliament's report follows renewed Turkish efforts to join the EU. Earlier this summer, President Erdogan sought to link Turkey's EU membership to approval of Sweden's request to join NATO.
However, EU officials have refused to link the two issues, citing human rights abuses and the deterioration of the rule of law in Turkiye under Erdogan. “We have recently seen a renewed interest from the Turkish government in reviving the EU accession process,” said the MP leading the dossier, Spanish Socialist Nacho Sánchez Amor, after adopting the report on Wednesday.
“This will not happen due to geopolitical bargaining, but only when the Turkish authorities show a real interest in stopping the continued decline of fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in the country,” Sánchez Amor said.
EU officials accuse Erdogan of stifling the media and imprisoning dissidents, including during the crackdown following the failed 2016 coup, which Erdogan blamed on the Gulen movement. Then there is the unresolved problem of the occupation of the northern part of the island of Cyprus, whose Greek republic is a member of the EU.
In 2018, the European Council said in a statement that negotiations for Turkey's accession to the EU “have reached a stalemate.
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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-turchia-valuta-di-scaricare-lunione-europea/ on Mon, 18 Sep 2023 06:30:26 +0000.