Press Release Regarding EU General Affairs Council Conclusions Which Relate to Türkiye / Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

EU General Affairs Council conclusions reveal, in its Türkiye related paragraphs, once again the narrow-minded and biased approach of the European Union against Türkiye.

Such conclusions sacrificing EU’s common interests for the benefit of certain Member States neither contribute to Türkiye-EU relations nor promote a constructive agenda.

Unfortunately, this approach of the EU proves again that the Union is far from evaluating accurately the change in the international system.

We totally reject EU’s baseless allegations against Türkiye regarding democracy, rule of law and human rights.

Moreover, with regard to Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus issues, we do not accept EU’s unfortunate statements that are no more than voicing of Greek Cypriot-Greek duo.

We observe with astonishment that Türkiye's diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine and its strong support for Ukraine's territorial integrity are ignored, Türkiye’s approach is reduced exclusively to non-alignment with EU sanctions and Türkiye's principled stance of not taking part in unilateral sanctions is presented as a deliberate circumvention of the sanctions.

Türkiye’s trade and economic relations with Russia do not have a nature to undermine the sanctions, and it is already clear that the continuation of our dialogue with Russia is important in terms of keeping the negative effects of the war to minimum as observed during the Grain Deal and the prisoner exchange. Disregarding Türkiye’s determined stance of not allowing circumvention of EU sanctions through its territory while not taking part in the sanctions is a deliberate approach.

For Türkiye to take such conclusions into account, the EU should consider Türkiye as a negotiating candidate country and display the necessary political will in this respect.