On Friday 25 June, the Turkish Foreign Ministry denounced the conclusions on “Turkey” adopted the previous day by the European Council (see EUROPE 12749/11, 12748/3).
These conclusions “are far from the necessary steps expected to be taken”, the Ministry said in a statement.
According to the Ministry, while the EU acknowledges de-escalation in the Mediterranean, “it is clearly a delaying tactic, a lack of political will, and an abuse of membership advantages by certain EU states to postpone concrete decisions for the implementation of the positive agenda, including the modernisation of the Customs Union”. At the end of March, the leaders had highlighted the possibility of adopting more formal decisions on the positive agenda in June, depending on the situation in the Mediterranean (see EUROPE 12686/3). However, no formal decision was made at the June summit.
Turkey also regrets that its status as a candidate for EU membership was not mentioned.
Furthermore, Ankara calls it a “big mistake” to reduce cooperation on migration to a mere financial contribution, and calls for broader cooperation.
The Ministry also considers that the part of the conclusions on Cyprus is, “as usual, a repetition of the views of the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo”. “The EU, with this stance, once again ignores the Turkish Cypriots and disregards their equal rights. It is not possible for the EU to make a constructive contribution to the Cyprus issue as long as it maintains this stance”, it added. In its conclusions, the European Council reiterated its commitment to a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem “on the basis of a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality”, in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)