- Title: EU executive says Turkish actions rule out membership
- Date: 4th September 2017
- Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (AUGUST 28, 2017) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF EUROPEAN COMMISSION HEADQUARTERS EU FLAGS OUTSIDE COMMISSION
- Embargoed: 18th September 2017 11:58
- Keywords: EU Germany Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan German Chancellor Angela Merkel EU Commission President Juncker accession talks negotiation
- Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- City: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: European Union,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016X6L3RB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The actions of the Turkish authorities are making it "impossible" for the country to join the European Union, the EU executive said on Monday (September 4) after German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for ending accession talks.
Quoting European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker from last week, before Merkel's election campaign comment, EU Commission chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a regular news briefing in Brussels that Turkey was 'taking giant strides away from Europe' and that it was 'making it impossible for Turkey to join the European Union.'
He stressed, however, that any decision on whether to formally halt the long-stalled membership process would be up to the 28 member states of the bloc, not the Brussels executive.
Schinas's comments came a day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would seek an end to Turkey's membership talks with the European Union in an apparent shift of her position during a televised debate weeks before a German election.
On July 6, the European Parliament called for Turkey's European Union accession talks to be suspended if Ankara fully implements plans to expand President Tayyip Erdogan's powers, in a vote which Turkey dismissed as flawed and wrong. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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