EU committee calls for suspending Turkish accession talks over rights violations
The EU Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee has called for freezing accession talks with Ankara as Turkish prosecutors seek life sentences for philanthropist Osman Kavala and 15 other Turks.
In a further blow to Turkey’s withering European aspirations, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament told the European Commission and EU member states today to freeze accession talks with Ankara over its shoddy human rights record, partisan judiciary and ongoing territorial dispute over the divided island of Cyprus.
The call came as the committee voted on the EU Commission’s annual Turkey report, which will be taken up during a March 11 plenary session of the European Parliament. Some 47 lawmakers voted in favor and seven others against the report, which also noted the high level of corruption in Turkey.
Kati Piri, the parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, declared in a tweet, “My expectation is that in two weeks a large majority of the EP will vote for the suspension of accession talks with Turkey.”
Dutch fellow parliamentarian Marietje Schaake said in a statement, “The message of the parliament is crystal clear. We attach consequences to [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s grip on power.”
