Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday urged Turkey to abide by “European values”, warning that the reintroduction of the death penalty would “slam the door” on EU membership.
The European Commission president set out the mutual advantages of good EU-Turkey relations, singling out the deal to retain migrants which has earned Ankara €1.6 billion so far.
This would be at risk from the breakdown of Turkey’s interminable accession process, Mr Juncker suggested, along with the prospect of visa-free access for its citizens to EU countries.
Writing in a German Sunday newspaper, Mr Juncker also criticised Turkey for detaining journalists without trial, including Deniz Yucel, born in Germany to Turkish parents.
His urgent tone reflected the darkening mood in EU member states and Brussels over developments in Turkey. Ankara applied for EU membership in 1987 but negotiations have proceeded at a glacial pace while 16 other countries have applied and joined.
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“Whoever wants to join the European Union is joining a union of values,” Mr Juncker wrote in Bild am Sonntag in the aftermath of Mr Erdogan endorsing calls for the return of executions. A fundamental condition of EU membership is the prohibition of capital punishment. “If Turkey were to introduce the death penalty, the Turkish government would definitively slam the door on EU membership,” Mr Juncker said, adding that “Europe’s hand remains outstretched”, although increasingly Turkey’s application is seen by both sides as a mirage.
Applicant nations have to complete 35 accession “chapters” covering aspects of good governance from taxation to justice. Turkey has completed just one and opened only 15 more.
Eight chapters have been blocked by Cyprus since 2006 in a dispute over a ban on Cypriot ships from Turkish ports. The commission is in charge of the talks from the EU side but active negotiations have ground to a halt in the year since the Turkish coup attempt and President Erdogan’s subsequent crackdown.
For the talks to be formally abandoned, the commission or a third of EU member states would need to make a proposal and a majority of the nations would have to vote in favour. Turkey would have an opportunity to be heard.
Mr Juncker suggested that Turkey and the EU can achieve more together than apart, citing the refugee agreement struck last year as a success because it reduced migrants to Greece by 97 per cent in return for cash. The carrot to Turkey was “greater visa liberalisation and deeper customs union” as well as further EU payments. Mr Juncker said he last met Mr Erdogan in May and “had the impression he was looking towards Europe, instead of turning away”. Agreement was made to step up co-operation over energy, security and anti-terrorist activity, the commission president said.
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The detention without trial of journalists such as Mr Yucel, 43, who has been accused of spying, was “in no way compatible with a union of human rights, press freedom and the rule of law”, Mr Juncker said. His appeal seemed like a final attempt to use accession as leverage to head off the death penalty before the collapse of membership talks.