Türkiye's envoy to EU urges bloc to treat Türkiye equally

By Selen Valente Rasquinho

BRUSSELS (AA) - Türkiye's envoy to the EU on Monday stressed that the EU should treat Türkiye on par with other candidate countries.

At a meeting of the European Committee of the Regions Working Group on Türkiye, Ambassador Faruk Kaymakci emphasized the importance of Türkiye as an EU candidate and urged equal treatment, expressing disappointment with the final declaration of a recent EU summit.

Saying that the EU “ties every issue related to Türkiye to Cyprus,” Kaymakci added: “We cannot reach any solution with unilateral policies.”

He underlined that elements such as the initiation of high-level dialogue, reactivation of the European Investment Bank in Türkiye, visa facilitation, and modernization of the Customs Union should be ensured as soon as possible.

- EP rapporteur disappointed with EU summit decisions

Nacho Sanchez Amor, the European Parliament Türkiye rapporteur, stressed that it should not be forgotten that Türkiye is a candidate country.

Sanchez Amor argued that there is a lack of political will in Türkiye for EU membership and the country is moving away from the EU's security and foreign policy.

He said the EU is watching Türkiye with caution as to what the government will do about the membership process after the March 31 local elections.

Calling the decisions on Türkiye at the recent EU summit disappointing, Sanchez Amor said that a report prepared last November by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell mentioned many ways to work with Türkiye, but EU leaders did not take them into consideration.

Türkiye had criticized the conclusions of the April 17-18 extraordinary European Council meeting, accusing the EU of lacking "strategic vision" in its approach to the country.

"It is necessary to abandon an understanding which reduces these multifaceted relations to the Cyprus issue. Such a mentality cannot make a positive and constructive contribution to the problem, nor to the other regional and global issues," said the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

*Writing by Muhammed Yasin Gungor in Istanbul