Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik Evaluated the Agenda for the Spanish Press

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Ömer Çelik held a press briefing for Spanish journalists as a part of his formal visit to Madrid (Spain).  During his evaluation of the agenda in Spain, Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik indicated that if progress was made in Türkiye-EU relations, the EU would resolve many of its problems and said: “Türkiye is not simply a country to be used as a concentration camp for refugees or in the fight against terrorism. Türkiye is a European democracy. If Türkiye is excluded from Europe, this means Europe is excluded from geopolitical, economic and diplomatic international matters.” 

Reminding that the European Parliament would vote on recommendations regarding Türkiye-EU accession negotiation during its session on October 4, 2017, Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik said: “In fact they are avoiding other problems by discussing Türkiye. If there were a suspension of Türkiye’s accession negotiations, would this mean an end to internal discussions and the problems of the EU, or the realisation of reforms in the EU? A suspension of the Türkiye’s accession negotiations means an end to cooperation with Türkiye in areas such as migration and security. I certainly hope that the EU does not repeat its mistake again on October 2017.”

Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik said that the rise of populist movements in Europe demonstrated the credibility of Türkiye’s earlier warnings on the matter.  Minister Çelik stated that the rise of populist movements was a result of the inability of the centre right and centre left to resist extremism in order to hold on to votes. Minister Çelik pointed to Brexit and the elections in Germany and Holland as examples.

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Ömer Çelik responded to questions on the prospective “European Army” project:

“A ‘European Army’ cannot be established without Türkiye. The security of Europe cannot be ensured without Türkiye, neither can the future of Europe.  It is not sound to view Türkiye only as a bodyguard for Europe. The establishment of a European force cannot be realised in the current situation of Europe. The EU should be more reformist and should include Türkiye in its initiatives.”

Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik stated in relation to Türkiye’s stance on the referendum regarding independence to be held in Catalonia (Eastern Spain) on October 1, 2017: “We defend the unity, territorial integrity and the constitutional borders of Spain. We do not feel that such a referendum will benefit the welfare of the people in those countries in this period when there should be more integration.”