Turkey-EU Relations Are Like 'Dialogue of the Deaf'

© AP Photo / Axel Schmidt,fileRecep Tayyip Erdogan and Angela Merkel
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Angela Merkel - Sputnik International
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President of the European Council Donald Tusk recently said that an EU-Turkey summit could be held in the coming months in order to discuss various issues, particularly migration. However, political expert Cengiz Aktar told Sputnik Turkey that the planned meeting is unlikely to improve relations between Brussels and Ankara.

Syrian refugees stand inside the Moria camp during the demostration against the deal between EU and Turkey, on March 24, 2016 in Lesbos. - Sputnik International
EU, Turkey Implementing Bilateral Refugee Deal Slower Than Expected - Merkel
According to Aktar, statements of EU representatives look like "another vivid manifestation of Brussels' hypocrisy."

The expert argued that the European Parliament has clearly demonstrated its position when it voted on the "freezing" of accession negotiations with Turkey.

"It is almost impossible to put the current relations between Ankara and Brussels back on track, because today the dialogue that once existed between the two parties turned into a dialogue of the deaf. The parties don't listen to each other, and the most unpleasant thing, they don't want to hear each other. They don't have common interests anymore, which could push them to a constructive discussion of the problem," the expert said.

In March, Brussels and Ankara signed a deal, under which Turkey pledged to take back all undocumented migrants that had arrived to the European Union in exchange for Syrian refugees on a one-for-one basis. In return, the European Union promised to provide a total of 3 billion euro to Turkey for dealing with refugees and accelerate Turkey's EU accession process.

In November, the European Parliament voted in favor of freezing EU accession talks with Turkey over concerns about Ankara's post-coup crackdown, a that move has been widely criticized in Ankara.

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