A visit by leading MEPs Elmar Brok (EPP, DE) and Kati Piri (S&D, NL) to Ankara has been postponed to a later date due to the disagreement with Turkish authorities on the format of the meetings.
Following the latest round of arrests of Turkish journalists and opposition politicians in Turkey and contacts EP President Martin Schulz was in contact with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım to discuss how to re-establish the faltering political dialogue between the EU and the Turkish government.
The visit of EU Affairs Minister Ömer Çelik to the European Parliament yesterday was part of the agreement to keep open political dialogue. Elmar Brok, the Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Kati Piri, the EP standing rapporteur for Turkey, were supposed to travel to Ankara today to hold high-level meetings with Turkish authorities and representatives of the opposition and civil society with a view to restore political dialogue.
Due to differences on the format of the meetings, President Schulz, in agreement with MEPs Brok and Piri, decided to postpone the visit until Parliament’s prerogatives are respected.
President Schulz stated: “The European Parliament is keen to dialogue frankly, openly and in good faith with Turkish authorities. For dialogue to happen, a precondition is to accept the autonomy and independence of your interlocutor. Mr Brok and Ms Piri represent the European Parliament and we cannot allow to have a pick-and-choose approach on who speaks to whom.
Yesterday, I stated clearly to Minister Çelik the admiration for the democratic vigilance of the Turkish people to safeguard democracy during the attempted coup. The objections levied by the EU authorities regard the proportionality of the response of the Turkish government in the wake of the coup. The European Union remains committed to dialogue. Dialogue however requires the two sides to be willing to talk to each other. I continue to hope that the EP will be able to visit Turkey soon.”
