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Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik Replied to the Questions of the Press in Spain
Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Ömer Çelik, replied to the questions of the press following his meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Alfonso Dastis during an official visit to Madrid (Spain).
Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik evaluated his visit to Spain and indicated that the relations between Türkiye and Spain were at a very good level and that there was agreement between the two countries on many matters.
Underlining that Spain had been supporting Türkiye’s EU membership for a long time, Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik stated that, during their meeting, he thanked Minister Dastis for his support for Türkiye’s accession process.
Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik stated that he pointed out the significance of the Alliance of Civilisations Initiative during his meeting, and said:
“I emphasized that Alliance of Civilisations Initiative should be further enhanced in this period in particular. I also stated again the importance attached to this initiative by our President. Certainly there is a concrete fight against Da’esh and ethnic terrorism but the ideological attraction of the terrorist organisations need to be addressed. The Alliance of Civilisations Initiative is a powerful message to the world on this matter.”
-“Opposition to Türkiye will cause you to lose votes”
Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik, in response to a question on whether Türkiye would be on the agenda in the European Parliament (EP)plenary session on October 4, 2017 in Strasbourg, said that the EP had passed an resolution on Türkiye earlier which had been a mistake.
Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik said that this resolution was antithetical to the nature of parliaments and indicated that parliaments were established to resolve problems through discussion and cooperation and not to avoid discussions.
Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik stated: “The EP recommendation to ‘suspend accession negotiations with Türkiye’ is at variance with the very nature of a parliament”.
Referring to Türkiye-Germany relations, Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik said: “Germany is keeping Türkiye on its agenda in order to obscure its own problems, which it cannot solve.”
Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik said: “So where are we now? We have said this on every occasion. Opposition to Türkiye will cause you to lose votes because this rhetoric strengthens extreme right parties.”