ANKARA (Sputnik) — German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday spoke against suspension of talks with Turkey on the country's admission to the European Union.
"Not the European capitals, but Ankara should make its decision regarding talks with the EU. I am against suspension of such talks," Steinmeier said during a visit to Turkey at a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
According to Steinmeier, Germany does its best for development of relations with Turkey, though, at the same, Berlin is concerned about the situation with freedom of speech and arrests of opposition journalists in Turkey.
On Saturday, European Parliament President Martin Schulz threatened Turkey with economic sanctions amid arrests of opposition politicians and journalists in the country. His words followed the European Commission report, which stressed that Turkey’s efforts on achieving compliance with EU legislative standards, necessary for joining the European Union, were insufficient.
Brussels has been concerned about renewed attempts to reinstate the death penalty in Turkey, as well as by closures of media outlets, arrests of journalists and Kurdish opposition leaders that have shaken the country after a military faction made an unsuccessful bid to overthrow the Turkish president in July.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in response on Monday that the issue of Turkey joining the European Union could have been put to a referendum after the end of the year and once again accused the European Union of supporting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) outlawed in Turkey.
