Turkey’s economy minister condemned the European Union on Tuesday as the most hypocritical organisation in the world, in vitriolic remarks which underlined the EU candidate country’s growing alienation from Brussels. Turkish mass media reported.
Turkey’s bid to join the bloc has virtually ground to a halt in recent years due to opposition from core EU members and the failure to find a solution to the dispute over the divided island of Cyprus.
Economy Minister Zafer Chaglayan said it made him laugh when he heard the EU had won the Nobel Peace Prize last week for promoting peace, democracy and human rights over six decades.
He attacked the EU for imposing visa requirements on Turkish business visitors and quotas on goods, describing this as a “a crime against humanity” and “torture” and condemned the award of the Nobel prize to a body responsible for unfair competition.
Ankara’s ambitions to join the EU were a dominant theme at previous party summits. Turkey began talks on joining the EU in 2005 but has only completed only one of 35 policy “chapters” every accession candidate must conclude.
All but 13 policy chapters in Ankara’s negotiations are blocked and the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, says Turkey does not yet meet required standards on human rights and freedom of speech.
But Ankara is not ready to give up on Brussels yet.
