Earlier in the day, EU lawmakers adopted a non-binding resolution calling on the bloc to suspend admission negotiations with Turkey, whom Western countries have repeatedly accused of human rights violations. While 370 lawmakers supported the move, 109 voted against it, and 143 abstained.
"We do not attribute any value to this unilateral and by no means objective stance of the European Parliament when we are in a period of increasing our common efforts to put Turkey-EU relations back on track," the ministry said in a statement.
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The ministry expressed the belief that the high number of votes against the resolution and abstentions proved that the resolution in fact had no "solid ground" within the European Parliament.
"We expect the new European Parliament which will be constituted following elections in May to adopt a constructive approach on Turkey-EU relations in the forthcoming period, to take qualified and objective decisions and to promote Turkey’s integration with the EU," the ministry said, calling on the European Parliament to promote the development of the Turkish-EU dialogue.
Omer Celik, a spokesman for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, slammed the resolution as "worthless and disreputable."
"This disreputable resolution actually publicly announces that the EP [European Parliament] is now under the ideological control [of the] far right," Celik wrote on Twitter.
Turkey applied for membership in the European Economic Community, an international organization that is today part of the European Union, in 1987, after signing an association agreement with the organization in 1963. However, its integration into the bloc was put on hold over a tough political and economic situation in the country, as well as a range of external problems.
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The EU-Turkish relations deteriorated following the attempted military coup that took place in Turkey in 2016. The European Union condemned the Turkish authorities' tough measures in the wake of the events which included mass detentions and dismissals, and this became another stumbling block in the accession talks.
