On Wednesday 9 November, European Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn stated that Turkey was distancing itself from the European Union.
During his presentation of the 2016 'Enlargement' package, the commissioner said that "in this year’s progress report, we are highlighting Turkey’s backtracking in the law and order domain and fundamental rights”. Whilst pointing out that the attempted coup on 15 July was an attack against democracy and that its swift response to this threat was legitimate, Hahn said that "the general and collective nature of the measures taken over recent months raised very serious concerns". He added that "serious human rights violations have been flagged up".
According to the commissioner, the worsening situation began well before the coup. He emphasised that "it is important to say that the step backwards does not date from this year or last summer but that it involves a process that has been going on for several years". Hahn added that Ankara had "largely ignored" recommendations made by the European Commission last year, which had already flagged up a deteriorating situation (see EUROPE 11428). He outlined "serious backtracking" in the areas of the rule of law, fundamental rights, an independent judiciary, and freedom of the media, as well as in the area of administrative and socio-economic reforms. He nevertheless highlighted progress on the roadmap towards visa liberalisation and called for the anti-terrorist law to be amended "so that there is no doubt about it being used against the opposition, journalists, academics or other parts of society". In addition, he emphasised the fact that the situation in the southeast of the country constituted one of the most significant challenges for the country and added that the Kurdish question could only be resolved by way of a political process.
The commissioner warned that action taken by Turkey, "including the reintroduction of the death penalty, appeared increasingly incompatible with Turkey’s official wishes to become a member of the European Union". In Hahn's view, "it is time that Ankara told us what it really wants. This is a test for its credibility, as well as for ours".
Asked about a possible suspension of accession negotiations, as requested by certain member states and MEPs, including the leader of the EPP Group Manfred Weber, ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt, and European Parliament rapporteur Kati Piri (S&D, Netherlands), the commissioner explained that it was up to the member states to "draw their own conclusions (…) which is expected for the foreign Affairs Council in December". During their Counci on Monday 14 November, the foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Turkey. Hahn stated that a vote by unanimity would be necessary for suspending any accession negotiations with a country.
As usual, Turkey has criticised progress report
The same day, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the EU to give a prompt response to Turkey’s request for accession. "Assess but do not delay in this assessment. Make a permanent decision", he said in a televised speech, with Europeans in mind.
Turkey's Minister for European Affairs Omer Celik rejected the conclusions of the report and said that certain sections were "far from being objective". Addressing the press, he described the report as being "far from constructive and far from providing a way forward". "This report has been drafted in away that does not serve the interests of relations between Turkey and the European Union", he said. According to Celik, several conclusions reflect a lack of understanding of the situation in Turkey. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)