EU Parliament Slams Turkey for Not Confronting Russia in Latest Report

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has lashed out at the European Parliament's latest annual report on Turkey as the document slammed Ankara over its close ties with Russia, among other things.

Members of the European Parliament criticized Ankara for not restricting Russian media outlets amid the special op in Ukraine, while boosting Russo-Turkish trade, hosting Russian citizens and not joining the sanctions bandwagon against Moscow.

"It is essential that Turkey remains engaged with the EU, also on the implementation of sanctions against Russia, in particular as regards the sanctioned products," EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said.

At the same time, the report expresses concerns regarding a "significant decline in Turkey's alignment with EU Foreign and Defence Policy, plummeting to a mere 7% in 2021."

The ministry said in a statement that the report was "a collection of unfounded allegations and prejudices" and showed that its members fail to develop "the right strategic approach to the EU, as well as to our region."

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While acknowledging Turkey's constructive role in "facilitating talks between Ukraine and Russia", the report, in particular, accuses Ankara of "not restricting the operations of Russian media outlets in the context of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine."

"I would just say that the European Parliament in particular is in the habit of issuing anti-Turkish reports, which are not taken seriously in Turkey," Hasan Unal, professor of political science and international relations at Ankara Baskent University, told Sputnik.

He described the report as "just another bureaucratic paper filling the shelves of the European Parliament," which is "just making sure that it should be treated in Turkey as a very hostile institution and this is how it is viewed in fact."

"Basically the European Parliament is making itself a laughing stock. You sometimes laugh and then sometimes you just throw the paper away and just leave it to the bureaucrats to deal with it. Generally, this is how it is viewed in this country," Unal said.

When asked if Turkey could fall victim to an EU witch hunt, he did not rule out such a scenario, adding that Ankara "basically sees greater opportunity in dealing with" Moscow, “not through war profiteering though."

"And Russian media outlets in this country are free to basically operate. And I wouldn't think that Turkey would do anything about that. The European Union and particularly the European Parliament is and will be very critical of that," the political scientist pointed out.

He was partly echoed by Hasan Selim Ozertem, an Ankara-based security and political analyst, who told Sputnik that over the last couple of years, "the EU's Turkey reports have lost their transformative power and influence on Turkish politics."

On the European Parliament’s report, Ozertem dubbed it "a disappointing document for Turkey", specifically pointing to the report’s part, where "Ankara’s attempts to uphold ties both with Russia and the West simultaneously are seen as undermining Turkey's harmonization with the EU's Common Security and Foreign Policy."

"As I noted, this is a non-binding, advisory document. Currently, [the EU’s foreign policy chief] Josep Borrell's office is also working on a framework to revitalize the dialogue with Turkey. The European Parliament's document ignores a non-normative relationship based on transactionalism. We would see the framework drawn by Borell's office on this perspective later," Ozertem concluded.