Istanbul: Turkish EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik (pictured), called for the opening of two new accession chapters in Turkey’s bid to join the EU, despite tensions between Ankara and Brussels.
“Let us open chapters 23 and 24,” Celik said during a speech in Ankara on Monday.
“If the European Union and its institutions really want to talk to us about human rights, justice and democratic values, then we need to open these chapters.”
Chapters 23 and 24 are concerned with Judiciary & Fundamental Rights and Justice, and Freedom & Security.
Last week, Steffen Seibert, a spokesman for the German government,said the opening of new accession chapters was unthinkable under the current circumstances.
Seibert’s comments came after the EU Parliament called on the European Commission to freeze the long-running accession talks with Turkey.
Concerns over human rights and the lack of judicial process have soured relations with the European Union.
Emergency laws that went into effect after a failed coup attempt by a faction in the Turkish military in July have led to the purge of tens of thousands of civil servants and members of the security forces. Hundreds of associations and media outlets have been shuttered.
— dpa
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