Ankara slams EU over 'narrow-minded approach'

ANKARA

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has slammed the European Union for maintaining a narrow-minded and prejudiced approach towards Türkiye and criticizing its decision not to comply with the sanctions imposed by Brussels against Russia in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

“The section concerning our country of the resolutions adopted by the European Union [EU] at the General Affairs Council once again reveals the narrow-minded and prejudiced view of the EU towards Türkiye,” read a statement by the ministry on Dec. 14. It accused the EU of sacrificing ties with Türkiye for the interest of some member states and underlined that this is not a constructive approach.

The ministry’s statement followed the resolutions adopted by the EU at the General Affairs Council on Dec. 13 that criticizes Türkiye over the state of democracy and human rights and expresses discomfort about growing ties with Russia.

“The Council commends Türkiye for its constructive role in facilitating the export of Ukrainian grain. However, the Council deeply regrets Türkiye’s non-alignment with EU sanctions against Russia. The Council underlines its strong expectation of Türkiye to step up its alignment with EU Common Foreign and Security Policy positions and restrictive measures as a matter of utmost priority,” read the EU resolution.

The ministry lashed out at the EU for ignoring Türkiye’s continued diplomatic efforts to end the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the support Ankara has pledged to Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

It also expressed Türkiye’s astonishment by Brussels’ effort to reduce the matter to Ankara’s decision not to comply with the sanctions against Russia. Türkiye said it will only implement the sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council as a matter of principle.

The ministry underlined that Türkiye’s economic and trade ties with Russia do not have a negative effect over the EU-led sanctions, stressing “It is obvious that the continuation of our dialogue with Russia is important in terms of keeping the negative impacts of the war at a minimum level as seen in the examples of grain deal and exchange of prisoners.”