After their meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday 25 May, European leaders underlined that the EU hoped to continue cooperating with Ankara, despite the fact that relations between the two parties have deteriorated since the failed coup d’état in Turkey in July 2016.
“The EU and Turkey must and will continue to cooperate. Major issues of common interest were discussed in detail in a good and constructive atmosphere”, explained a European Commission spokesperson. European Council President Donald Tusk, for his part, made it clear on Twitter that he had discussed with Erdoğan about “the need to cooperate” and “had put the question of human rights at the heart of discussions”.
According to Turkish presidency sources cited by AFP, the leaders underlined the importance of “rekindling Turkey-EU relations, and separately the need to enhance cooperation in the fight against terrorism”. “They stressed the need to apply the Turkey/EU (migration) deal of March 2016”, the same sources said.
Erdoğan held a 40-minute meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, before a meeting solely with the latter for 30 minutes. The Turkish president also discussed with the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, who was emphatic about freedom of the media and the question of the death penalty. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise with Solenn Paulic)