EU nations' prevention of pro-Palestine rallies 'double standard,' says Turkish foreign minister

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) - The prevention of pro-Palestinian rallies in some EU countries constitutes a "double standard," Türkiye's foreign minister was quoted as saying at a meeting organized by the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin, according Turkish diplomatic sources.

"Those who allow attacks on our holy book, the Quran, under the guise of freedom of expression are blocking those who want to protest the brutal killing of civilians in Palestine. This is an unacceptable double standard," Hakan Fidan was quoted as saying at the closed-door meeting, according to the sources.

During the closed ministerial-level meeting titled "EU Enlargement and Reform," Fidan also discussed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

"If we cannot stop Israel from killing civilians in Gaza, how can we protect civilians in Ukraine?" he was quoted as asking.

Asserting that the EU has been unable to take a firm and effective stance on global challenges, Fidan highlighted that the bloc needed to respect differences by allowing more countries to join.

"The reliability of the (EU's) expansion policy needs to be re-established. Some member countries should be prevented from using the negotiation processes for their own interests. It is also wrong to turn membership negotiations into endless, open-ended processes," he was quoted as saying.

Fidan also underlined that the EU should see expansion as a "geostrategic matter" if it wants to "become a global player."

The Turkish foreign minister departed from Berlin for the Kazakh capital Astana after the end of the meeting, which around 20 countries attended, including host nation Germany, as well as Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Georgia, and Kosovo.