Turkish and EU officials met in Brussels last week for high-level talks. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik, EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini and EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn discussed issues including Turkey’s EU accession negotiations, energy, customs union, counter terrorism, cooperation and the migration agreement.
After the meetings, Cavusoglu said referring to the EU’s criticism of the detention of journalists following the July 15 coup attempt, which left 250 people martyred and some 2,200 injured: 'Having the identity of a journalist does not justify committing any crime. We are fighting with terrorist organizations. We suffered a coup attempt and we did not receive adequate support from the EU. We started to receive adequate support after one year, but support with statements.'
He added that the ongoing state of emergency in Turkey was operating in compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights and did not differ from similar measures currently in place in France.
After the meetings, Turkey’s EU Minister Omer Celik said, “If we put aside the accession negotiations, there is no way to speak of developing relations in energy, trade or fighting terrorism. Turkey is not only a neighbor country but also a candidate country.”
-US sanctions
The College of Commissioners discussed the state of play of the U.S. draft bill on Russian sanctions last week. Commissioners expressed their concerns because of the draft bill's possible impact on EU energy independence. The bill foresees the imposition of sanctions on any company (including European) that contributes to the development, maintenance, modernization and repair of Russian energy export pipelines.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said, 'The U.S. Bill could have unintended unilateral effects that impact the EU's energy security interests. This is why the Commission concluded today that if our concerns are not taken into account sufficiently, we stand ready to act appropriately within a matter of days. America first cannot mean that Europe's interests come last.'