Ankara in fury after Euro parliament vote

The Turkish government has reacted angrily to the European Parliament's Nov. 24 overwhelming recommendation to freeze Ankara's EU accession negotiations, with chief negotiator Ömer Çelik saying his government regards the decision as "void."

"On a day like this, I would not want to make statements over the EP's [European Parliament] visionless decision. In reality, we regard this decision as void," said Çelik, who is also Turkey's EU minister.

"It is easy to talk like this in places where terror has not occurred. At a time when Turkey, which has a 1,295-kilometer border with Syria and Iraq, is involved in a heightened fight against terror, there are visionless and imprudent debates going on in Europe, instead of solidarity," Çelik said in reaction to the non-binding vote.   

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldrım also called the parliament's move "two-faced" and the result of "double standards."

Some 479 of the votes in parliament were in favor of freezing the talks with Turkey while 37 were against it, and 107 abstained. The main reason behind the halt in negotiations was "disproportionate repressive measures" introduced under the state of emergency in Turkey that came after the July 15 coup attempt.
 
"MEPs strongly condemn the 'disproportionate repressive measures' taken by the Turkish government since the failed coup attempt in July 2016. These 'violate basic rights and freedoms protected by the Turkish Constitution itself,'" according to the parliamentarians.

"Turkey is an important partner of the EU. But in partnerships, the will to cooperate has to be two-sided... Turkey is not showing this political will as the government's actions are further diverting Turkey from its European path," the members of the...