European Parliament: Turkey's accession on hold, no progress since 2018

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European Parliament: Turkey's accession on hold, no progress since 2018  Turkey's EU accession process remains frozen due to democratic backsliding, despite the Mediterranean country's strategic importance and cooperation on migration, MEPs said in their latest report.  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/05/07/european-parliament-turkeys-accession-on-hold-no-progress-since-2018  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00The message is clear.

00:06Turkey's EU accession process, stalled since 2018, cannot be relaunched under the current circumstances.

00:13This is the conclusion of a report on Turkey approved by the European Parliament on Wednesday.

00:19Arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, repression of anti-government protests, human rights violations.

00:25The MEPs denounced the ongoing backslide in democracy.

00:30The accession process is frozen. There are no progress in any way.

00:33On the contrary, Turkey probably is the only country backsliding in democratic standards.

00:39And for that reason, what we maintain is the idea that the accession process is suspended and well suspended

00:45because we didn't receive any good news on democratic standards from the year 13 till now.

00:52And the last detention and harassment of the mayor of Mamoglu is probably the peak of this repressive trend.

01:02Security, trade and migration. Turkey remains a strategic partner of the EU and ally within NATO.

01:08In a debate at the European Parliament, the Commissioner for Enlargement stressed the need to deepen cooperation with Ankara.

01:17The 2016 EU-Turkiye statement on migration continues to yield results.

01:23Irregular arrivals from Turkey to the EU have fallen by 33% so far in this year compared with the same period last year.

01:32For his part, the reporter calls for Turkey's accession to the EU not to be definitely ruled out.

01:38We have to distinguish between the country and the current rulers.

01:43It's true that under the AKP ruling it's impossible to advance because there are no other political will to advance in democracy and values.

01:50But there is a vibrant civil society asking us, imploring us not to shut the door.

01:57They want to maintain the hope that maybe in the future, with another rulers, with another country, with another environment,

02:05it could be an opportunity again for Turkey to re-engage with the European Union on the basis of membership.

02:11The reporter insists there are no shortcuts to EU membership.

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