EU Parliament Turkey Rapporteur Amor responds to Erdoğan's remarks: 'Forget that logic...'

Meeting with managers of national media outlets and diplomatic correspondents at the EP building in Strasbourg, Amor said, “At least in my view, the unexpected victory of the opposition has paradoxically created a better environment for the accession process.”

"THE PROCESS COULD GAIN MOMENTUM"

As reported by Metin Kaan Kurtuluş from T24, Amor commented, “The opposition's victory acted as a breath of fresh air for the accession process, which was in intensive care and being kept alive artificially.”

Emphasizing that “it is a fact that the regime in Turkey is on an authoritarian trend,” Amor noted, “We don't know what will happen in 5-10 years,” signaling his belief that in the event of a possible change in government, Turkey's EU accession process could gain momentum.

"TURKEY'S IMAGE PROBLEM IS RELATED TO ERDOĞAN"

Stressing that the opposition did not compete with the AKP under fair conditions and yet won the elections, Amor stated that he was surprised the opposition parties did not make more effort to announce this situation to the world.

“It is very clear that the AKP is responsible for this state of democracy in Turkey,” said Amor, adding, “The problems regarding Turkey's image are entirely related to Erdoğan, because we see no face other than his.”

Amor pointed out that although opinions favoring the termination of Turkey's accession process have been frequently voiced in Strasbourg in recent years, a vote in that direction has never come close to succeeding in the European Parliament. Amor said, “This shows that even though our concerns about Ankara's domestic policy are increasing and our very serious concerns about the divergence in foreign policy continue, we prefer to keep Turkey as a candidate country.”

DOES THE EU NOT NEED TURKEY?

On the other hand, Amor stated that the narrative widely used in Turkey that “Europe needs Turkey” does not reflect the truth: “Forget that logic. The EU is still a club of democracies. You need to be a democracy in every sense. The fact that your drones and flags are very impressive does not change the reality that you are not an EU member.”

Amor expressed that due to the stalled accession process and Turkey's drift away from the Copenhagen Criteria, the EU has increasingly begun to view Turkey as a 'third country' rather than a candidate country. The EU uses this term for countries like Egypt, with which it does not conduct accession negotiations but maintains institutional cooperation. Stating that he does not see the political will in Turkey for the reforms necessary for EU membership, Amor said, “This applies to every branch of your relations with Europe. You are a founding member of the Council of Europe, but you do not implement the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.”

News Source: 12punto