European Union foreign ministers agreed on Thursday that the bloc should re-engage with Turkey, but they set some conditions and did not back Ankara’s calls to revive its stalled membership bid.
“We discussed how to re-engage with Turkey,” Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, told a news conference after the bloc’s foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
“We are convinced that there is a mutual interest in developing a stronger relationship between Turkey and the European Union,” he added.
However, he indicated that the European bloc wants Turkey to show flexibility as well, especially with regard to the issue of Cyprus, a member of the Union.
“Resolving the Cyprus issue in line with the relevant UN resolutions will be a decisive factor in re-establishing contact with Turkey,” Borrell said.
He went on to say, “It will also be necessary to adhere to fundamental freedoms and values as defined by the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Ankara is a party.”
A senior Turkish official told Reuters this month that Ankara expects the EU to make significant progress on issues such as visa-free travel, as well as to finish some chapters in the bloc’s accession process.
Turkey has been an official candidate to join the European Union for 24 years, but accession talks have stalled since 2016.
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2023-07-21 00:06:07
