On Monday 14 November, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said at the end of the Foreign Affairs Council that the Europeans particularly wanted to keep "open the [communication] channels with the Turkish authorities, opposition and civil society".
These channels "are open at all levels" so there can be certainty of being able "to communicate with each other", Mogherini stated. She added that it was important for these communication channels to remain open between an EU candidate country and the 28 EU member states, at a time when Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has just announced that he could organise a referendum in 2017 on the EU accession process. This referendum will be organised if no decision is taken by the Europeans before the end of the year, he said, as EU heads of diplomacy met in Brussels.
While Belgium's Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said he would like Mogherini to visit Ankara "soon" in order to discuss the situation with the Turkish authorities, Mogherini has not announced any visit there in the immediate future. While waiting for this possible visit, Germany's Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier will make a visit to Ankara on Tuesday 15 November.
"The EU does not want to burn its bridges with Turkey, except for one or two possible exceptions, nor to cut its ties or suspend its ties. We don't want the dialogue to be interrupted", Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn stated. He nevertheless recognised that "for the moment, it is difficult to say that the dialogue still exists". Between closing one's eyes to the situation and burning all bridges, "there is a chessboard of pieces that can be played", he said, without wanting to give further detail. "Nobody wants to let Turkey go, but we hope that Turkey will not let us go with decisions that go completely against the Copenhagen criteria", he added. By way of example, he mentioned the return of the death penalty.
While the Europeans are seemingly pretty much united, differences still continue. and while Mogherini underlined the common declaration adopted last week, this is in reality the lowest common denominator. In the end she only reiterated European concerns as to the situation in Turkey.
Austria remains tough on Turkey, while the UK is much less inclined to criticise Ankara. "I am not in favour of continuing the accession negotiations and I am convinced that this current Turkey does not have a place in the European Union", Austria's Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said when he arrived in Brussels. He added that his country would oppose new accession chapters in the coming months. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, however, gave the opposite opinion, calling for an approach that would not corner Ankara. He said he was against any form of excessive reaction that would be against "our collective interests". (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)