Ankara Slams EU Over 'Narrow-Minded Approach'
Date
12/14/2022 9:10:13 PM
(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) 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, trend reports citing hürriyet daily
news .
“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.”
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