Turkish EU accession depends on it ‘changing course’ (updated)

Unless the Turkish government “drastically changes course”, Turkey’s EU accession process cannot resume, the European Parliament said on Wednesday, passing the progress report for the country.

The report was passed with 434 votes in favour and 18 against with 152 abstentions.

Speaking during the session to ratify the report in the parliament, rapporteur Spanish MEP Nacho Sánchez Amor said: “We have recently seen a renewed interest from the Turkish government in reviving the EU accession process. This will not happen because of geopolitical bargaining, but only when the Turkish authorities show real interest in stopping the continuing backsliding in fundamental freedoms and rule of law in the country. If the Turkish government really wants to revive its EU path, it should demonstrate this through concrete reforms and actions, not statements.”

Reference was made in the report to the ongoing issue in Pyla in the buffer zone, where Turkish Cypriots attacked Unficyp officers in August during their attempts to start work on a road between the village and that of Arsos in the north.

In the report, the EU said it, “condemns the launch of illegal construction work by the Turkish occupying forces within the buffer zone near the bi-communal village of Pyla in Cyprus, as well as the assaults against UN peacekeepers and damage to UN vehicles on 18 August 2023.”

The report also called on Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership to cease and reverse all such unilateral activities and avoid any further actions and provocations that are not conducive to the resumption of the UN-led negotiations.

The incident has led to ongoing talks between the Greek Cypriot side and the Turkish Cypriot side, through the UN in an effort to find a solution that is mutually acceptable.

At the beginning of the month, daily Politis reported that a solution had been found to the controversial plan to create a road between Pyla and Arsos, but the government on Tuesday said discussions were still underway.

Commenting on the Turkish Cypriot community, the report urged Turkey to give the Turkish Cypriot community the necessary space to act in accordance with its role as a legitimate community of the island, which is a right guaranteed by the constitution of the Republic of Cyprus.

The report also called for more EU involvement to the engage with the Turkish Cypriot community, and that the Republic of Cyprus is responsible for “stepping up its efforts to facilitate the engagement of Turkish Cypriots with the EU.”

In response to the text and the Republic helping bring the Turkish Cypriots closer to the EU, Akel MEP Niyazi Kizilyurek said: “It [the government] should encourage them to take their relations forward and not hinder them.”

He added that the messages sent to Turkey, the commission, and the Republic of Cyprus are statements that strengthen the political field of Turkish Cypriots.

Stating that the ‘government’ in the north should be more demanding in relations with the EU, Kizilyurek said: “It [the north] should make its voice heard more. For example, why can’t the education charter be prepared and be included in Erasmus?

“I think that the position of the Turkish Cypriots within the EU will be improved with a demanding, systematically programmed policy.”

MEPs also recommended finding a parallel and realistic framework for EU-Turkey relations, and called on the commission to explore possible formats, while urging the Turkish government, the European Union and its member states to break the current deadlock and move towards a closer partnership.

Meanwhile, it emerged later that all six Cypriot MEPs abstained from voting on the report regarding Turkey, with most saying that the section of the report that calls on the commission to establish a partnership with  Ankara, destabilises the entire accession process, and does not allow for Turkey to start meeting its obligations to become part of the EU.