European Parliament on Wednesday voted to uphold its decision not to restart EU accession talks with Turkey, citing the country’s democratic backsliding under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration as a key factor.
Members of the European Parliament, while acknowledging Turkey’s geopolitical and strategic importance for the EU, as well as the democratic and pro-European aspirations of a significant portion of Turkish society, adopted a report rejecting the resumption of accession negotiations, with 367 votes in favor, 74 against, and 188 abstentions.
MEPs also urged Turkey to demonstrate a serious commitment to Cyprus settlement talks, while noting that Ankara continues to violate the sovereignty of Greece and Cyprus through its promotion of the “Blue Homeland” maritime doctrine in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
A pointed comment came from the rapporteur of the report, Spanish MEP Nacho Sanchez Amor, who stated: “We constantly hear from the Turkish authorities about their supposed commitment to joining the EU and how important it is for us to reinvigorate this process for reasons of security and geopolitics – but they are mistaken. EU membership is about democracy, and the more they advance a fully authoritarian model, as was recently seen with the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the further they drift from EU membership.”