Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik evaluated the agenda on the joint broadcast made by Habertürk TV and Bloomberg HT

Minister for European Union (EU) Affairs and Chief Negotiator Ömer Çelik evaluated the agenda and responded to questions on the live broadcast made by Habertürk TV and Bloomberg HT from Adana.

Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik, who evaluated the decision to close several mosques by Austria, which will assume the EU presidency in the forthcoming term, said that the Austrian government was  “a grenade ready to explode” with reference to the future of Europe. Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik said: “There was the intention to normalise relations with Austria; however, at this point, the Austrian chancellor represents hostility to Islam and racism.”

Indicating that the meeting between Türkiye and the EU on the visa liberalisation dialogue held on March 31 in Ankara had been a favourable one, Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik said: “We welcome the progress in this area. In fact, there is no reason to reject this paper in its current form.  If the matter is to be addressed from the perspective of a technical negotiation process and objective criteria, this paper should be accepted and visa liberalisation should begin.”