Icon: enlarge
Turkish President Erdoğan speaking in Ankara
Photo:
ADEM ALTAN / AFP
The EU Commission accuses Turkey of serious failings on the way to EU accession.
The government in Ankara has made "no progress in the fight against corruption", there is still no effective separation of powers and serious concerns about the functioning of the economy persist, the commission said on the publication of an annual progress report.
Instead, Turkey made "serious setbacks in the areas of democracy, rule of law, fundamental rights and the independence of the judiciary".
At the same time, Turkish foreign policy increasingly collides with the EU priorities of a common foreign and security policy.
Specifically, the EU Commission accuses Ankara of "illegal actions and provocative statements" against Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean.
Last week, the EU summit renewed sanctions threats against Ankara because of the gas conflict in the eastern Mediterranean.
At the same time, Turkey was given the prospect of expanding the customs union, trade facilitation and further billions in aid to supply refugees from countries like Syria.
According to the summit resolution, the prerequisite is that "constructive efforts to end the illegal activities in Greece and Cyprus are continued".
With this, the EU states reacted to the fact that the conflict between Turkey and Greece had eased recently, but not the dispute between Turkey and Cyprus.
In 2005 the EU started negotiations with Turkey on accession.
However, due to the mass arrests of government critics after the failed military coup in 2016, the EU states decided not to extend the accession talks any more.
Shortly afterwards the negotiations came to a standstill.
Most recently, the Turkish authorities had increased the pressure, especially on the pro-Kurdish HDP.
Numerous opposition party politicians have been arrested, including the elected mayor of Kars and former MP Ayhan Bilgen.
With regard to fundamental rights in Turkey, the Commission notes that these have deteriorated further.
Many of the measures introduced during the 2016 coup attempt are still in place and have devastating effects.
At the same time, the EU continues to see Turkey as an important partner in migration policy.
The country is home to around four million refugees, 3.6 million of them from Syria.
In recent years, the EU has supported refugees with billions in aid.
However, the Commission now also referred to problems in this area and in particular to the fact that in March Turkey "actively encouraged" migrants to take "the overland route through Greece to Europe".
From the point of view of the EU, "the use of migratory pressure for political goals" is not acceptable, it said.
Merkel is conferring with Erdoğan - and wants to work for better relationships
Chancellor Angela Merkel is still working to improve relations between the EU and Turkey.
In a video conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday, government spokesman Steffen Seibert announced that she would take quick steps towards an agenda for the further development of EU-Turkey relations, as envisaged in the conclusions of the previous European Council .
On the other hand, she emphasized the need to further reduce regional tensions in the eastern Mediterranean.
The EU Commission has also submitted reports for the states of the Western Balkans - Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.
The Brussels authority emphasized that binding the region was in the political, economic and security interests of the EU.
However, across the region, credible progress on the rule of law remains a major challenge, often related to a lack of political will.
The fight against corruption has subsided and most countries are far from meeting the requirements of EU membership.
After all, there has been progress in media diversity and freedom of expression in the past year.
At the same time, the EU Commission presented an economic and investment plan for the region worth nine billion for the Western Balkans on Tuesday.
This is intended to support, among other things, the economic recovery, the ecological and the digital turnaround.
Icon: The mirror
mes / dpa / AFP