Turkey Slams Austrian Chancellor's 'Far-Right' Remarks on EU-Turkey Deal

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In early November, Kern stated in an interview that the EU-Turkey deal has not yielded any positive results and said it is likely to end after the remainder of financial aid is paid out to Turkey. Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz has also criticized the deal, calling on the European Union to reject the possibility of a visa-free regime with Turkey if the country reinstates the death penalty.

"Austrian Chancellor Kern says that far-right's coming to power in key countries of the EU is a big problem. However Austrian Chancellor's & Foreign Minister's discourse on Turkey is worse than far-right politicians… The ones who produce only anti-Turkish & Islamophobic politics to compete with far-right make the far-right & racism only stronger," Celik said in his official Twitter account.

​Ankara and Brussels agreed on a deal in March, under which Turkey pledged to take back all undocumented migrants who arrive in the European Union through its territory in exchange for Syrian refugees accommodated in Turkey, on a one-for-one basis.

In return, the bloc pledged to accelerate the Turkish EU accession bid and introduce a visa-free regime, as well as provide financial aid to Turkey to cover the costs of migrant reception.

Turkey's accession process to the European Union has been placed under increasing strain as the country continues to fall short of implementing the necessary standards of public administration, freedom of press and legislation. The migration deal has also been strained by Turkey's crackdown on opposition journalists, as well as public servants and judges, in the wake of the coup attempt in July.