Following a European Parliament vote in favor of freezing EU accession talks with Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has joined the ranks of harsh critics of the EU and said the people of Turkey do not care about the decision at all.
¨We checked out the comments of our people and saw that the people don’t care at all,” Çavuşoğlu said on Thursday without indicating his source for the comments immediately after the EP’s decision. A poll released the same day in Turkey indicated significant support for European Union membership among Turks, with 45 percent in favor of joining the bloc.
Çavuşoğlu argued that with its lack of vision the EU has been increasingly losing its credibility and urged the union to “check itself and correct its policies.”
The EP has voted to suspend Turkey’s EU membership talks because of the Turkish government’s “disproportionate” response to a failed coup attempt that took place on July 15.
A total of 479 deputies voted in favor of imposing a “temporary freeze” on the talks with Turkey while 37 deputies voted against the non-binding resolution.
Turkey’s EU accession talks began in 2005, but only one of the 35 policy areas — called “chapters” — has been closed. A country is ready to join the EU only when it has met the criteria in all 35 chapters.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been accusing the EU of siding with “terrorism” rather than supporting Turkey since the coup attempt.