‘Turkey's EU process being blocked politically’

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia

Turkey's accession process to the EU is being blocked politically, Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said on Tuesday.

"Turkey's EU accession process is being blocked politically. We advocate the removal of this obstruction. Thus, Turkey will have the opportunity to show they could fulfill the required conditions," Lajcak told a news conference after the 4th Visegrad Group (V4)+Turkey Foreign Ministers Meeting in Slovakia.

During the meeting, Lajcak, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek, and Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz exchanged views on Turkey-EU relations and discussed recent international developments.

"Turkey which is a NATO member and has accession negotiations with the EU is an important ally. Turkey plays a key role for ensuring stability and security at the region. The security of the region is very important for Europe," Lajcak said.

Turkey applied for EU membership in 1987 and accession talks began in 2005.

But negotiations stalled in 2007 due to the objections of the Greek Cypriot administration on the divided island of Cyprus as well as opposition from Germany and France.

- 'EU should show respect towards Turkey'

Szijjarto, for his part, stressed the importance of cooperation with Turkey on fighting against terrorism.

“We respect and cherish Turkey’s efforts to stop the migratory flow and to fight against terror,” Szijjarto said.

“Whenever Turkey is on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council Meeting there are countries speaking against their membership,” Szijjarto said, adding: “Playing such kind of games with Turkey is not fair. This is a signal of disrespect towards Turkey.”

“Instead of showing disrespect and playing games we should be able to build a relationship with Turkey which is based on the strategic partnership, mutual interest and mutual benefit.”

“European Union should show respect towards Turkey because our security starts with Turkey because of the migration and terrorism issue,” he added.

Szijjarto also urged EU to build a strategic partnership with Turkey due to the fact that “Turkey is going to be one of the top ten economies of the world very soon and it has the second largest army of the NATO.”

Top Czech diplomat Petricek thanked Cavusoglu for attending the meeting and highlighted good relations between Turkey and Czech Republic on energy and culture.

Meanwhile, Przydacz underlined that developments in the Middle East and the Black Sea could not be negotiated without Turkey. He particularly drew attention toward rising tension in Libya.

* Writing by Burak Bir and Zehra Nur Duz