Erdogan hindering EU visa liberalization for Turkey: European Parliament

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “authoritarian actions” are hindering the EU process to grant visa liberalization to Turkey, says the president of the European Parliament.

"A prior condition for the visa liberalization [between EU and Turkey] was a number of criteria which have not been fulfilled,” said Martin Schulz on Monday.

Turkey has been having difficult relations with the EU in the course of negotiations on a deal that would stop the entry of irregular refugees into Europe.

While the main deal was reached in March, a sub-deal on visa-free travel to Europe for Turks has hit a snag over Turkey’s refusal to amend its anti-terrorism laws — a precondition set by the EU.

“The anti-terror law has been not even reformed, it has been used to strip parliament members of immunity, to recall their parliamentary mandates," Schulz added.

In May, Turkey’s parliament approved a government-backed bill aimed at stripping lawmakers of their immunity from prosecution. 

The constitutional amendment was proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party after Erdogan accused the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) of being an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey deems as a terrorist group.

"I think that this method is not a single one but one of many authoritarian actions of President Erdogan which prevent even more from introducing the visa liberalization for Turkey,” added Schulz.

Over the past few years, Ankara has been cracking down on media, especially sympathizers of PKK. 

“What is happening right now with journalists in Turkey, what is happening with the parliament members contradicts every single value of the parliament democracy,"  Schulz noted.

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