TÜRKÇE
  Updated: 19/04/2018

Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik held a press meeting on Türkiye’s country report

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Ömer Çelik criticised Türkiye’s country report, which was published by the European Commission yesterday, stating: “We cannot see any criticism in the report that is objective and fair; neither do these criticisms contain a positive agenda and offer a perspective for the future.”

Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik, pointing out that implementation in Türkiye did not conflict with the case law of the ECtHR, said that there could not be democracy where there was terrorist propaganda or support for terrorism. Minister Ömer Çelik stated that not only the state and government but also society had the right to be involved in the protection of democracy and freedom of expression.

Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik said that they welcomed the emphasis in the report referring to the PKK as a terrorist organisation but underlined their expectation for a substantial response in this matter.

Minister Ömer Çelik said: “We believe that it is a major mistake to refer to FETO as the “Gulenist movement” and employ rhetoric implying that it is just an innocent civil society organisation. Furthermore, there is a reference in the report to the fact that our government considers the “Gulenist movement” to be a terrorist organisation. This can be considered to be some progress. However, it cannot be considered as genuine progress.”

Minister Ömer Çelik, who criticised the report on the grounds that the report was superficial and lacked vision and was not able to appreciate the intensity, dimensions and perspective of Türkiye-EU relations or the new developments, underlined that Türkiye was a European state and a strong European democracy.

Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik said: “If they say ‘more Europe’ after this, our call to them regarding this matter is: ‘More Europe’ means better Türkiye-EU relations and more cooperation with Türkiye.”

Emphasising that Türkiye was not a rival in the Balkans and the Middle East and that it put forth complementary policies with the EU regarding issues such as Jerusalem and Arakan, Minister Ömer Çelik said that the report did not reflect the potential of Türkiye-EU relations.


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Updated: 19/04/2018 / Hit: 12,881