EU lawmakers dampen Turkey’s hopes of reopening accession talks

ISTANBUL (AP) — European lawmakers said Tuesday that Turkey needs to make a “drastic change of course” to get EU accession talks back on track, a week after the Turkish president linked reviving the process to accepting Sweden into NATO.

The European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee said in a statement that Ankara’s bid to join the bloc “cannot resume under the current circumstances.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week agreed to put Sweden’s accession before Turkey’s parliament for ratification but tied the move to Turkey joining the European Union.

“When you pave the way for Turkey, we’ll pave the way for Sweden,” he said.

Sweden and Finland, both EU members, applied to join NATO following last year’s Russian invasion of Ukraine, ending decades of military non-alignment. Talks to admit Turkey to the EU started in 2005 but were put on hold in 2018.

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In a report on Ankara’s bid, the European lawmakers said Turkey was expected to respect democratic values, rule of law, human rights and abide by EU laws, principles and obligations.

“We have recently seen a renewed interest from the Turkish government in reviving the EU accession process,” said Nacho Sanchez Amor, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey.

“This will not happen as a result of geopolitical bargaining but when Turkish authorities show real interest in stopping the continuous backsliding in fundamental freedoms and rule of law,” he said. “If the Turkish government is sincere in this they should show it with concrete reforms and actions.”

The report, which is expected to be put to a vote in the European Parliament later this week, called for a break in the deadlock and for “a parallel and realistic framework” in EU-Turkey relations.

It said Sweden’s NATO bid could “in no way” be tied to Turkey’s EU membership discussions.