Tough stance by the European Parliament towards Turkey

The report of the rapporteur Nacho Sanses Amor on the situation in Turkey in 2019 and 2020 is called today to vote on European Parliament, which is expected to maintain a tough stance towards the country.

In a press conference given by the Socialist Spanish rapporteur of the report, he stressed that this is the most critical report against Turkey that the European Parliament has ever presented. As a candidate country for EU membership, Turkey does not take EU values ​​into account, while the situation there has deteriorated in recent years and undermined democratic values, the rule of law and respect for human rights, he said. Sanchez Amor.

The Spanish rapporteur of the report on Turkey He also stressed that a strong political message should be sent to the Turkish government, according to the APE-MPE correspondent.

“If Ankara wants to be a candidate country for membership, it must follow the path of democratic reforms,” ​​he said. He added that while some progress had been made in the first years, at the moment the Turkish side did not have the necessary political will, which has led to the freezing of the accession negotiations.

“Many times in the last year we have talked about sanctions against Turkey, while at the same time we have tried to propose a positive agenda, but Ankara must show in practice and not in words that it wants a positive agenda,” said Sanchez Amor.

He went on to say that “no positive agenda should be offered to Turkey without the condition for democracy and human rights reforms. He stressed that the same applies to the request for upgrading the customs union. “The European Parliament insists that it is not possible for a candidate country that does not respect its obligations under the accession process to seek advantages in the field of customs union,” said Sanchez Amor. “This is a comprehensive package that includes values ​​and we should not offer an economic and trade relationship to a candidate country that does not meet its obligations,” he added.

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