Turkey has criticised EU leaders’ summit conclusions for delaying concrete decisions.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the conclusions adopted by the EU Council held in Brussels on 24 June regarding Turkey are far from the necessary steps expected to be taken.
Turkey has more than fulfilled its responsibilities in terms of reducing tensions and initiating dialogue and cooperation, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Such wordings solely based on the Greek Cypriot and Greek claims are unacceptable and create an opportunity for some other countries to hide behind them,” the statement reads.
“The EU’s expression of unconditional solidarity to a country [is] based solely on membership status regardless of the legitimacy of the country’s position.
“As long as this stance continues, it will not be possible to accept the EU even as merely a third party in the Cyprus issue.
“We find it peculiar that our NATO allies within the EU support the actions of the Greek Cypriot Administration that do not comply with the international law. At the same time, they adopt a discourse that is far away from showing any solidarity with Turkey, a country devotedly fighting against various terrorist entities that also constitute a threat to the EU,” the ministry added.
The ministry also accused the EU of ignoring the Turkish Cypriots and disregarding their equal rights.
Ankara slammed one or two member states for abusing EU membership, in reference to France and Greece.
Relations between the EU and Turkey have become fractious over several key issues, mainly Cyprus island and the Libyan and Syrian conflicts.
has led many Europeans to see its policies in the Middle East as destabilising. Ankara’s relations with Washington have also soured, due to tensions over Turkey’s growing ties with Russia and over the Syrian conflict.
In 2018, the EU froze Turkey’s accession negotiations over what it said “the deterioration of Turkish democracy.”
Ankara’s relations with Washington have also soured, due to tensions over Turkey’s growing ties with Russia and over the Syrian conflict.
