Senior EU official urges freeze in political talks with Erdoğan until İstanbul mayor’s release

Michael Gahler, a senior member of the European Parliament and spokesman on foreign affairs for the European People’s Party (EPP), has called for a stronger response from the European Union over the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, suggesting that political talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan be frozen until the mayor is released, Bild am Sonntag reported.

İmamoğlu, widely seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s strongest political rival, was arrested on March 23 on corruption charges that many consider politically motivated. His detention has sparked widespread protests, the largest in Turkey since 2013, and heightened political tensions.

“As long as Imamoglu is in custody, we should freeze contacts of the EU and the member states [with Turkey] at the political level. That would massively increase the pressure on Erdogan,” Gahler said.

However, the German politician is not in favor of completely severing dialogue with the Erdoğan government on issues that concern the EU.

“Turkey remains an important partner, for example in matters of migration and security, including with regard to Ukraine. Therefore, discussions on these issues should continue at the official level,” he said.

The EU faces a delicate balancing act, wanting to deepen security ties with Turkey — a NATO member and candidate to join the bloc — while urging the country to uphold democratic values as part of the membership process.

At the political level, Gahler called for intensified engagement with Turkish opposition leaders and civil society.

“At the parliamentary level, we are speaking out more clearly and talking with Turkish opposition politicians and civil society,” he said.

He also questioned the independence of the Turkish judiciary, calling İmamoğlu’s detention “primarily a political issue, because the Turkish judiciary has unfortunately become a political one.”

The EU has been criticized for what some see as a muted response to the mayor’s arrest amid efforts to bolster military and strategic cooperation with Turkey following recent tensions between the EU and the United States.

EU spokesman Markus Lammert said last Wednesday that the EU will carefully “recalibrate” its engagement with Turkey, citing “worrying developments” following Ankara’s crackdown on the protestors. However, he said that Turkey remained a key partner.

“Following the recent worrying developments, we need to carefully recalibrate our engagement, while of course keeping open channels to discuss topics of mutual interest, as Turkey is a strategic partner for us,” he said.

EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos said cancelled a visit to Turkey for a diplomatic forum and a planned meeting with the Turkish foreign minister “because of what is happening” in the country.

Last Thursday however, the EU held high-level talks on economic relations with Ankara for the first time in six years — something Lammert said was “an important step in our re-engagement.”