Turkish EU minister calls for anti-terror cooperation

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

EU Minister Ömer Çelik underlined the need for the bloc to support Turkey’s fight against terrorism in a phone conversation with EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn on Nov. 8, a ministry source said.      

The minister said Turkey expected concrete cooperation in combating terror groups such as the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), which Ankara has said was behind the July 15 failed coup attempt.      

Çelik also added that Turkey and the EU should build solidarity in areas where they share common values, such as law, democracy and human rights, the source said. The conversation followed a statement from EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini earlier on Nov. 8 calling for Turkey to “safeguard its parliamentary democracy, including the respect for human rights, the rule of law,  fundamental freedoms and the right of everyone to a fair trial.”      

The statement came after the arrest and imprisonment of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which focuses on the Kurdish issue.

The Foreign Ministry later described Mogherini’s comments as “unacceptable” and said the EU had “lost credibility among the Turkish people” over the fight against terrorism.