Turkey criticises EU report on its membership process

Turkey has criticised a European Commission report on Ankara's EU membership process, saying it once again reflects the double standards towards the country.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the report on the enlargement strategy "unfortunately" overlooked responsibilities towards Turkey at a time when Ankara revived high-level dialogue with the EU and sought to develop a better political agenda with the European Union bloc.

Turkey also rejected the inclusion of "inconsistent and biased" Greek and Greek Cypriot theses in the report. 

Turkey does not accept baseless and unfair criticism, especially in the chapters on political criteria along with judiciary and basic rights, the ministry said.

Turkey said the EU came up with unproportionate findings without evaluating the conditions specific to Turkey with regards to the country's governance, political system, basic rights and fight against terrorism.

EU's approach did not take threats against Turkey into accounts such as those by the YPG/PKK, FETO, and Daesh terrorist groups, the ministry said. 

The EU's approach served no other purpose than to please "radical" circles in Europe that are against the EU and Turkey, it said.

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EU obligations on refugee deal

Referring to the deal on refugees reached between Turkey and the EU on March 18, 2016, the ministry said the report solely focused on the migration part of the agreement. 

While it praised Turkey for its efforts in the context of migration, it did not mention the EU obligations in this regard, the ministry said.

"EU's demand to have a daily trade relationship with us only in areas that serve its own interests is unacceptable," the ministry said.

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Regional issues 

On the issues of Eastern Mediterranean, the Aegean, and Cyprus, Turkey said the EU has included inconsistent and pro-Greek or Greek Cypriot theses in the report, which Ankara rejects.

While Turkey has carried out its part of the bargain fairly so as to de-escalate tensions and initiate dialogue and cooperation, the EU persistently does not acknowledge the rights of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots, the statement said.

This approach undermines the EU's ambition to be a regional and global power, it said.