Turkey's prime minister compared his Israeli counterpart Binyamin Netanyahu to the terrorists who killed 17 people in Paris last week, as the European Parliament yesterday passed a resolution condemning Turkey's recent media crackdown.
The comments by prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu were made before he travelled to Brussels for talks with senior European Union figures yesterday.
His intervention follows a war of words between Israel and Turkey this week after Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan was accused of being an "anti-Semitic bully" by Mr Netanyahu. Mr Erdogan had criticised Mr Netanyahu's attendance at the anti-terror rally in Paris on Sunday.
In Brussels yesterday, Mr Davutoglu held talks with European Council president Donald Tusk, commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. Turkey has officially been in pre-accession negotiations with the EU since 1999, but they have foundered amid resistance from a number of member states, including Germany, towards the idea of Turkey gaining EU membership.
Concerns over the rule of law and the independence of the media and judiciary under
Mr Erdogan’s presidency have heightened over the last year.
Ms Mogherini's decision to visit Turkey last month, early in her tenure, was perceived as an indication of her support for fostering a strategic EU-Turkey relationship, particularly amid concern over so-called "foreign fighters" using Turkey as a base from which to visit Syria and Iraq. News however of police raids and arrests of journalists just before Christmas strained relations.
Commission sources said yesterday the EU remained committed to accession talks with Turkey, as it believed it was the best way to bring about reforms. After yesterday’s meeting with Mr Davutoglu, EU council president Donald Tusk said he welcomed the commitment shown by the Turkish government to the accession process.
Noting the EU and Turkey had "differences of opinion on the cartoons of Charlie Hebdo", he said there were also disagreements within the EU on the issue. He said both sides had agreed to intensify dialogue over counterterrorism measures, including addressing the threat of Islamic State.
Mr Davutoglu’s visit to Brussels took place as the European Parliament in Strasbourg passed a resolution condemning last month’s arrest of journalists in Turkey. In a resolution passed by a show of hands, the parliament said Ankara’s actions “cast serious doubts on the independence and impartiality of the judiciary and demonstrated an increasing intolerance of political opposition, public protest and critical media”.
