EU ready to engage with Turkey, but ‘rule of law’ a concern

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — European Union leaders on Thursday said they are ready to engage with Turkey “in a phased, proportionate and reversible manner” in areas of mutual interest, offering Ankara a number of incentives to improve cooperation while at the same time expressing concern about rule of law and protection of human rights. 

Ankara described the EU stance as “narrow-minded,” but welcomed efforts to improve relations. 

“Today, we have a clear framework and we hope, we really hope, it will be possible to improve the relationship with Turkey,” European Council President Charles Michel said after a video summit of EU leaders. 

Relations between Europe and Turkey turned acrimonious last year over Ankara’s gas explorations in the eastern Mediterranean. European leaders have also harshly criticized Turkey’s decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention preventing violence against women, steps to ban the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), and the prosecution of former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtas and human rights activist Osman Kavala. 

In its concluding statement, the European Council said that if “Turkey engages constructively,” it is ready to “launch high dialogues with Turkey on issues of mutual concern, such as public health, climate and counter-terrorism as well as regional issues.”

“Rule of law and fundamental rights remain a key concern. The targeting of political parties and media and other recent decisions represent major setbacks for human rights and run counter to Turkey’s obligations to respect democracy, the rule of law and women’s rights. Dialogue on such issues remains an integral part of the EU-Turkey relationship,” the statement added.

Turkey’s foreign ministry said the EU statement was written “with a one-way view of Turkey-EU relations,” but, “At the same time, we welcome the efforts made by the report to advance Turkey-EU relations on the basis of a positive agenda.”