EU summit decisions on Turkey 'far from containing necessary steps'

ANKARA

The EU summit's decisions adopted under the Turkey title are "far from containing expected and necessary steps," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Turkey has "more than fulfilled" its responsibilities in terms of reducing tensions and initiating dialogue and cooperation, the ministry said.

Although the EU acknowledged that the tension has decreased, it is "postponing concrete decisions to implement the positive agenda, including the updating of the (1995) Customs Union."

Turkey sees the EU's delaying the implementation of the agenda as a "stalling tactic, lack of will, and one or two member states' abuse of their EU membership," the ministry added.

"The proposed new financial aid package is aimed at Syrian refugees, not Turkey, and essentially, a step to be taken to ensure the EU's own peace and security," it said. "It is a big mistake to reduce the migration cooperation to merely a financial dimension."

The ministry said aiming for close cooperation would be beneficial for everyone.

Regarding the Cyprus-related parts of the summit decisions, the ministry said they were "a repetition of the views of the Greek Cypriots/Greeks duo, as usual."

"With this attitude, the EU once again ignored the Turkish Cypriots and ignored their equal rights," it said.