Both Ankara, Brussels Know Turkish EU Bid Unrealistic – Cypriot Lawmaker

The European Union and Turkey are both well aware that Ankara’s bid for EU membership will never be approved, a Cypriot member of the European Parliament told Sputnik Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova — On Sunday, during an official visit to Turkey, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would support Ankara’s EU bid. The visit came on the back of Brussels pledging up to $3.4 billion in aid, a simplified visa regime and accelerated EU accession for Turkey in exchange for holding back the flow of migrant from the Middle East into Europe.

“Both, the European Union and Turkey… they do not really believe that something is going to happen in the near future vis-a-vis Turkey entering the EU, they are just trying to see what they can do right now,” Takis Hadjigeorgiou said.

Hadjigeorgiou said that the deal forged by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, is full of promises that cannot be fulfilled.

“They both know that Turkey needs years and years to be a member, which is something we Cypriots support, because having a neighbor which is democratic, which is a member of the same union that we are, and solving the Cyprus problem, then they are most welcome,” Hadjigeorgiou said.

Juncker said the joint action migrant plan would provide guarantees that refugees currently in Turkey stay there. The deal will also ensure that no refugees use Turkey as transit route to EU member states.