Powerful signal to Erdogan

The Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Relations has accepted a resolution from the N-VA and Open Vld that calls into question the relationship between Turkey and Europe. “We are aware of the impact that this document will have on relations with Turkey, which is why we have so carefully weighed the advantages and disadvantages,” says Parliamentary party leader Peter De Roover. “But in the light of the events of recent months, only one conclusion is possible: Turkey is further off course from EU membership than ever, and in consequence the financial support to that country can no longer be justified.”

Following in the footsteps of Austria, the Netherlands and the European Parliament, our country is sending a powerful signal to Europe: freeze the accession negotiations with Turkey, stop the financial accession support and find alternatives to support Turkish civil society. “Our party has always been crystal-clear in its stance on the issue,” says MP Peter Luykx: “Turkey can never and will never be part of the European Union. In concert with us, the other political parties are now coming to the conclusion that President Erdogan is abusing the attempted coup in Turkey to prosecute his opponents mercilessly, that the accession negotiations with the EU have been derailed and that the Union’s many years of financial efforts have been of no avail.”

The final straw

“Our resolution is above all a strong symbolic signal to the regime in Ankara,” says MP Rita Bellens. “We want to make it clear that their policy is at loggerheads with the European values that we cherish. The possible reintroduction of the death penalty is the final straw. If necessary we will request that the negotiations be irreversibly halted.”