Turkey-EU meet marred by Gülen row

BRUSSELS

EU Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu speaks during the 74th EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee at the European Parliament in Brussels. AA Photo

The first day of the 74th EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting has been marred by the row over EU Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Andrew Duff, a liberal democrat member of the European Parliament (MEP).

Duff claimed Çavuşoğlu accused him of being bought by the U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. “Doubtless he can substantiate that later,” Duff wrote on this Twitter account and called on the minister to apologize for the personal attack or provide an explanation.

In response, Çavuşoğlu wrote “I never said you were bought by anyone, Andrew. I recommended you to obtain the original version [Turkish] of the interview and ask a reliable friend for the translation.”

“Those who said that have absolutely lied. They said to me that you want to stop EU negotiations. I said ‘it is wrong to reflect this as the decision of European Parliament.’ I didn’t say you have a connection with the parallel structure [the Fethullah Gülen movement],” Çavuşoğlu added.