Foreign Ministry reacts to EP's 2025 Turkey Report: Call for sanctions against Akın Gürlek had been made

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a written statement regarding the 2025 Turkey Report adopted by the European Parliament (EP) General Assembly. The statement noted, "It contains assessments that are based on the baseless claims and misinformation of anti-Turkey circles and do not align with the facts."

The Ministry issued a written statement regarding the 2025 Turkey Report adopted today by the EP General Assembly.

Stating that "(The report) contains assessments that are based on the baseless claims and misinformation of anti-Turkey circles and do not align with the facts," the statement conveyed that the report in question was prepared within the framework of a deliberate political agenda to reflect the ideological prejudices of certain EP members and aims to overshadow the existing positive agenda at a time when the strategic importance of Turkey-EU relations is increasingly growing.

The statement indicated that this approach, which provides a platform for terrorist organizations and anti-Turkey circles, once again demonstrates how far the EP is from presenting a strategic vision for the future of Turkey-EU relations.

The statement, which noted that the legal processes being conducted by the independent Turkish judiciary were distorted in the report, categorically rejected the targeting of Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek with unfounded accusations.

The statement recorded the following:

"The Turkish judiciary, one of the fundamental pillars of our state's sovereignty, is not open to the interference of any international institution, external actor, or political circle. It is impossible to accept initiatives that target judicial processes with political motives and contradict the principle of judicial independence.

Our expectation from the EP is that, in the current environment where global challenges are increasing, it adopts an approach that will contribute to advancing relations between candidate country Turkey and the EU on the basis of common interests and on a constructive ground."

Call for sanctions against Gürlek was made

In the final report adopted by the European Parliament, the call for sanctions against Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek, which was included in the draft text, was maintained. The report requested the implementation of the European Union Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime against Turkish officials seen as responsible for serious and deliberate violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms due to the 'democratic backsliding' alleged to be occurring in Turkey.

The text stated, 'These officials include those who assumed the role of trustee and those who appointed them, or those who play a key role in the state's repressive mechanism, such as names like former Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek.'

The European Parliament's call in question covers restrictive measures such as the freezing of assets of the relevant individuals within the borders of the European Union. While it is noteworthy that the Parliament explicitly mentioned a specific name for the first time, calls for sanctions and restrictive measures against Turkish officials had also been included in previous reports.

News Source: 12punto