In a statement made by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Friday, the EU summit’s decisions adopted within the framework of Turkey were described as “far from reaching the expected and necessary steps.”
The foreign ministry’s statement expressed that Turkey has “more than fulfilled” its responsibilities in terms of reducing tensions and initiating dialogue and cooperation. Furthermore, Turkey sees the EU’s delaying of the implementation of the agenda as a “stalling tactic, lack of will, and certain member states’ abuse of their membership,” the ministry added.
Although it has been acknowledged by the EU that tensions have decreased, Turkey concluded the statement by accusing the EU of “postponing concrete decisions to implement the positive agenda, including the updating of the (1995) Customs Union.”
The statement further says that “the proposed new financial aid package aims at Syrian refugees, which is a step taken to ensure the EU’s own peace and security, not Turkey. It is a big mistake to reduce cooperation on migration to merely a financial dimension.” The ministry said aiming for close cooperation would be beneficial for everyone.
Regarding the summit decisions revolving around the Cyprus issue, the ministry statement underlined that they were “a repetition of the views of the Greek Cypriots/Greeks duo. With this attitude, the EU once again ignored the Turkish Cypriots and ignored their equal rights.”
The European Council summit, which concluded on June 24, has covered many issues of the EU related to external relations, including Libya, Russia, Belarus, the Sahel, Ethiopia, and cybersecurity.
