Brussels, 13/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - In response to the conclusions of the General Affairs Council on 11 December on Turkey (see EUROPE 10750), the Turkish minister for European affairs, Egemen Bagis, called on the EU to remove the political obstacles to his country's accession process. In a press release, the minister underlined that, “if the EU wishes to be a global actor and honour its commitments, the EU should lift the political blocks in Turkey's accession process. The truth cannot be hidden. The reforms realised by Turkey in the EU accession process cannot be disregarded simply because there are those in Europe who want to ignore the process in Turkey”. He explained that his government is determined to pursue the reforms and added that, “under the principle of pacta sunt servanda, we expect the EU to demonstrate the same determination”.
Bagis stressed that the conclusions demonstrated that the government is on the right track but that efforts still need to be made. He also contested some of the issues raised in the text and directly questioned the role of Cyprus in this connection, saying “The stance taken by the Southern Greek Cypriot Administration once more at this Council meeting has had negative consequences for the future of the EU. It is a source of disappointment for both Turkey and the EU”. He explained that “the statements in the Conclusions on Turkey's statements and so-called 'threats' to the EU presidency are totally groundless and unreasonable”.
The minister also considers that there is an obvious contradiction when the EU seeks unanimity with regard to opening negotiations on chapters 23 and 24 but subjects their opening up to conditions on other chapters, although a member state is blocking the opening up of these chapters. He added that, “criticising Turkey on the chapters for which the opening criteria have not been communicated is obviously not ethical”. He also said that ministers' partial evaluation fails to reflect the whole situation when they declare that Turkey is one of the countries of origin for illegal immigration to the EU. He stated that linking the question of visas for Turkish citizens directly to illegal immigration from third countries and referring to the EU-Turkish readmission agreement in this context is not the right approach. (CG/transl.l)