EU imposes no preconditions before Turkey-EU meet in Brussels

The European Union has not imposed any preconditions on Ankara, such as the lifting of the state of emergency, before a prospective meeting between top Turkish and European officials later in May, Turkish diplomatic sources have said, emphasizing Ankara's interest in keeping channels of dialogue open with Brussels. 

"We have not been notified about any preconditions with regard to our president's planned meeting with EU officials. Although this meeting has not been confirmed, we are in favor of continuing our dialogue with the EU," a Turkish official told the Hürriyet Daily News on May 3. 

The official referred to a potential summit between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the EU's two top leaders, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and EU Council President Donald Tusk, on May 25 in Brussels, immediately after a NATO summit.  

In a strongly worded criticism against the EU on May 2, Erdoğan cited a five-article list of demands from the EU that called on Turkey to lift its state of emergency, although it was not initially clear if these were submitted as fresh preconditions for the upcoming meeting. 

The official said Ankara had not received any preconditions in regards to the meeting, emphasizing that no meeting between the two would be possible if the EU imposes conditions. 

"The issue of lifting the state of emergency has nothing to do with the upcoming meetings," the official said.  
Turkey has been under a state of emergency since an attempted coup in July 2016, ostensibly to fight members of the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), which has been accused of leading the coup, and to remove them from the state institutions. Although the EU acknowledged Turkey's right to declare a state of emergency, it...