While the goal was to show their unity on many issues of cooperation, it was their divisions on the rule of law and human rights that marked the press conference between the EU and Turkey at the end of their high level political dialogue in Brussels on Tuesday 25 July.
"We are witnesses to a worrying trend of imprisonment for a large number of members of the democratic opposition, journalists and human rights defenders in Turkey (...) We underlined that our cooperation and dialogue must be supported by positive concrete measures on the rule of law, fundamental freedoms and bilateral relations with the member states", High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini stated.
Meanwhile, European Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn reiterated that human rights, the rule of law, democracy and fundamental freedoms were crucial elements for making progress on the European path.
Turkey's Minister for European Affairs Ömer Çelik stated that Ankara was ready to discuss issues linked to the rule of law. He added that in order to resolve these problems, it is necessary to open Chapters 23 (judicial apparatus and fundamental rights) and 24 (freedom, security and justice) of the EU accession negotiation — which is currently being blocked by the Republic of Cyprus (see EUROPE 11832). "We are more than ready to discuss all this in detail", he said.
"It is not only the Cypriot question that makes opening the negotiation chapters difficult", Mogherini replied. Hahn said that the member states had decided that due to the current situation in Turkey, no new chapter would be opened.
However, for Çelik, Turkey's EU accession negotiations are "the backbone" of relations between the EU and Turkey. "They [the accession negotiations] cannot be put aside, and there cannot only be a focus on energy, terrorism and trade", he said.
"Nobody can say that there is no democracy in Turkey", the country's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated. He aslo said that the EU, "despite the fact that there was a coup", "saw all the measures taken against the FETO as breaches of the law". In Çavuşoğlu's view, there needs to be a "division between terrorism and political and journalistic activities", thus implying that the reason for arresting people, be they from the opposition or working as journalists, is their links with terrorist organisations.
Çavuşoğlu also stated that human rights defenders are detained due to their membership of FETO (the conservative islamist movement led by the imam Fethullah Gülen, who is accused of instigating the failed coup in July 2016). With several members of Amnesty International having recently been arrested, Mogherini reiterated the EU's support for "this serious and well-respected organisation". She had met Amnesty International's secretary general, Salil Shetty, earlier in the day.
Despite these difference, the EU and Turkey decided to move forward in their cooperation. Both parties agreed to hold high-level political dialogues on energy in September, transport in November and the economy in December.
Çelik also announced that the next EU-Turkey summit will take place in Adana, but no date was given. During their meeting, the two parties also discussed the application of the EU-Turkey agreement on stemming the flow of migrants to the EU, and the situation of Syrian refugees in Turkey. The stalled process of visa liberalisation for Turkish nationals was also discussed, as well as the update of the customs union and foreign policy issues. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)