Turkish EU Affairs Minister Says 'Impossible' to Alter Anti-Terrorism Law

It is impossible for Turkey to agree to changing its counter-terrorism law, as demanded by Brussels, Turkish Minister for EU Affairs Volkan Bozkir said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, the European Parliament suspended its work on granting Turkish citizens visa-free travel to the European Union, citing Ankara’s lack of progress in meeting all the criteria necessary for such a move. The five outstanding criteria include a revision of Turkey’s national anti-terrorism law, under which the notion of terrorism includes non-violent political activities — something the authorities can exploit to jail dissident journalists and academics.

"It is not possible for us to accept any change to the anti-terrorism law," Bozkir told the broadcaster NTV.

He argues that the Turkish legislation in its present form does actually meet EU standards,

In March, the European Union and Ankara agreed on a deal under which Turkey pledged to take back all undocumented migrants who arrive in the European Union through its territory in exchange for Syrian refugees accommodated in Turkey, on a one-for-one basis. In return, the bloc pledged to accelerate the Turkish EU accession bid and introduce a visa-free regime.

Turkey was officially recognized as a candidate for full EU membership in 1999. Talks on the issue started in 2005 but they have been repeatedly deadlocked, as the sides failed to agree on the implementation of technical points that Ankara must fulfill to achieve the standards required for EU membership.

Earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan spoke out against the EU demands for it to change its anti-terrorism legislation.