BRUSSELS: European Union foreign ministers agreed on Thursday that the bloc should re-engage with Turkiye, but set some conditions and did not endorse Ankara鈥檚 calls to revive its moribund membership bid.
Turkiye has been an official candidate to join the EU for 24 years, but accession talks have stalled since 2016 over the bloc鈥檚 concerns about human rights violations and respect for the rule of law.
But on July 10, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, in an unexpected move, called for a re-opening of Ankara鈥檚 accession talks, linking the idea to Turkiye鈥檚 approval of Sweden鈥檚 bid to join the NATO military alliance.
鈥淲e discussed how to re-engage with Turkiye,鈥� EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a press conference after a meeting of the bloc鈥檚 foreign ministers in Brussels.
鈥淲e are convinced there is a reciprocal interest to develop a stronger relationship between Turkiye and the European Union.鈥�
But he noted the EU wanted Turkiye to show movement too, especially on the issue of EU member Cyprus, the northern part of which was invaded by Turkiye in 1974 and has since been under occupation.
鈥淪olving the Cyprus issue in line with the relevant United Nations resolutions will be key in this re-engagement with Turkiye,鈥� Borrell said.
鈥淎lso, upholding fundamental freedoms and values as defined by the European Convention of Human Rights, of which Ankara is part of, will be essential.鈥�
Ankara expects concrete progress from the EU on issues such as visa-free travel, as well as closing some chapters in the EU accession process, a senior Turkish official told Reuters earlier this month, adding that the West needed to support Turkiye in its financial needs.