BRUSSELS
Turkey expects objective and balanced reporting by the EU in 2014, Ankara's EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.
Speaking to journalists after his visit to the European Commission in Brussels, Cavusoglu praised the European Commission's 2013 Progress Report on Turkey while criticizing a status report that was released several months before it.
"A hasty, unbalanced and unacceptable report was released in the wake of (last summer's) Gezi Park protests," he said, while praising the progress report released in October for being objective and containing true reflections on the progress shown by Turkey. Ankara does not expect a pro-government report, but one that is "objective and balanced," Cavusoglu said.
Turkey was rocked by a series of anti-government protests in the summer of 2013 as demonstrators attempted to block the demolition of a park in the center of Istanbul. The security forces' handling of the protests led to a decision by the EU to postpone a new round of membership talks.
The European Commission's 2013 Progress Report was released on October 16. The report positively assessed Turkey's democratization process, and acknowledged the progress achieved on important issues regarding the judiciary and fundamental human rights.
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