At the same time, President Erdogan publicly expressed doubts over the delayed negotiating process with Brussels.
"They say the negotiations should be reviewed. It's too late now. Review it as soon as possible and make sure that you do not delay the final decision," Erdogan was quoted as saying by Daily Sabah.
In an interview with Sputnik Turkiye, political commentator and journalist Cengiz Aktar shared thoughts on the current situation in the Ankara-Brussels talks and their future.
"It’s no secret that there is mutual displeasure between Brussels and Ankara. The situation with Turkey’s accession to the EU has long been delayed. This is unprecedented in the history of the European Union, and there is still no progress on the issue. But it is not only Turkey to blame," Aktar said.
Sixteen out of 35 chapters of the accession talks have been opened, but one chapter was later closed.
The remaining 15 chapters are related to two main issues, Turkey’s regional and environmental policies.
"The regional policy is about the Kurdish problem and the demands of the Kurdish people. If Ankara meets the demands and settle the issue many things would change for the better. But this scenario is unlikely. As for the second point, the situation with environmental policy in Turkey is very bad. Thus, we can say that the negotiations between Ankara and Brussels are formal and the current situation is unbearable for both sides," the journalist pointed out.
In the very beginning, Brussels was optimistic about the outcome of the talks because it saw that Turkey was successfully fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria. These are the essential conditions any candidate country must satisfy to become a member state, including political, economic and administrative criteria.
"But now the question of the Copenhagen criteria makes no sense because Turkey has not been in compliance with these conditions for the last three-four years. The situation now seems to be a vicious circle, and Brussels understands that," Aktar said.
According to him, there is a clash between two different negotiating paradigms, European and Turkish.
"European political culture prescribes continuing talks until the very last minute. Turkey is different. Ankara is capable of abrupt moves in the political processes," he said.
Aktar suggested that participants of the meeting will hold a series of consultations on the problem, but no decision to stop the negotiations will be made.
"The situation in its current form cannot stay for long. In fact, there are no real talks. The Copenhagen criteria should be off the agenda. Everyone sees that Turkey has a different way. However, as a NATO member, Ankara remains a major political player. Now, the EU is concerned that the 'Turkish problem' may add to the other challenges the bloc has recently faced," the journalist said.
According to Aktar, the central question is whether Brussels will decide to maintain the negotiations with Turkey or not. The journalist added that Ankara considers itself an irreplaceable partner that the EU cannot abandon.
"The Turkish government believes that cooperation with Ankara is important due to the Syrian crisis, in particular with the migrant crisis in Europe. So, Turkey demands from the EU liberalization of the visa regime in exchange for the implementation of the migrant deal," he said.
However, the journalist suggested that the EU is unlikely to introduce a visa-free regime for Turkish citizens in the near future, especially due to the upcoming presidential election in France and the parliament election in Germany.
