Tensions between European Parliament and Turkey heat up

A view of the European Parliament during a plenary session in Strasbourg, eastern France, Wednesday March 27, 2019. (AP)
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Updated 11 July 2020
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Tensions between European Parliament and Turkey heat up

  • Parliament also calls for suspension of EU accession talks with Turkey over human rights violation

ANKARA: The European Parliament has become increasingly critical about democratic backsliding in Turkey, with calls on Thursday for a complete end to accession negotiations with the country.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) said that Turkey should no longer receive pre-accession funding from the European Union budget as part of its candidacy process and for economic sanctions to be used as a stick against Ankara, which they called an “authoritarian regime.”

Although all EU governments would have to vote by a qualified majority to end Turkey’s 15-year-long stalled EU accession bid and cut funding programs, the escalating trend of criticism should be seen as a warning.

Last March the European Parliament also called for the suspension of EU accession talks with Turkey, over concerns about the violation of human rights and the rule of law. Ankara rejected the symbolic nonbinding resolution in favor of formally suspending EU accession talks with Turkey as “meaningless.”

Its Turkey rapporteur, Nacho Sanchez Amor, criticized the country for showing “constant distancing, underpinned by a lack of trust.”

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Although all EU governments would have to vote by a qualified majority to end Turkey’s 15-year-long stalled EU accession bid and cut funding programs, the escalating trend of criticism should be seen as a warning.

“Namely in the accession process, with a huge backsliding in human rights; in the current customs union, while we are quarreling at the World Trade Organization; in the visa liberalization, on which Turkey still has to comply with benchmarks, or in migration where the EU is complying with commitments, but Turkey uses it for putting more pressure,” he said.

While Sanchez Amor emphasized the need for keeping the accession process alive to use as leverage for supporting Turkish society, the head of the European People’s Party Manfred Weber said accession negotiations with Turkey were a historical mistake and talks should be stopped.

Germany’s Left Party also called on Brussels to halt its arms exports to Turkey.

Laura Batalla Adam, secretary general of the European Union Turkey Forum, said relations between the two sides had been at their lowest point for several years now.

“The political situation in the country and its estrangement from EU values have been the main cause of concern for Brussels,” she told Arab News. “Turkey’s increasingly assertive foreign policy today is creating new frictions in the relationship.”

Batalla thought that the visit of Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, to Turkey this week signalled the bloc’s willingness to hear Ankara’s views on the pressing issues in its region.

“In times like these, dialogue is more important than ever. We need more cooperation rather than confrontation with Turkey,” she said. “However, this cooperation needs to be based on values and not only on interests. There is a will from both sides to make this happen but their success will depend on a true commitment,” Batalla added.

On Friday, the European Parliament gave the green light to earmark 485  million euros to Turkey for ensuring urgent humanitarian aid to refugees.

The EU had committed 6 billion euros in aid for the refugees being hosted in Turkey under a bilateral deal in March 2016.

However the full amount of aid is expected to be paid by 2025 – another point of friction between Ankara and Brussels. Turkey has accused Brussels of not fulfilling its promises for burden-sharing and for not taking any steps for achieving the pledged visa-free deal for Turkish citizens.

“The EP’s 2019 report on Turkey had also called for an end to accession negotiations,” Cigdem Nas, secretary general of the Istanbul-based Economic Development Foundation, told Arab News.

“The situation between Turkey and the EU has become even worse since then. In addition to problems related to democracy, rights and the rule of law in Turkey, geopolitical clashes in the Eastern Med, over Syria and Libya have further complicated Turkey-EU relations. The conflictual positions of some member states … over Turkey’s actions in the Eastern Med and Libya have led to a strong urge to counter and limit Turkey’s activism in the region.”

According to Nas, the recent events and debates in Turkey regarding further constraints on social media, interference in bar associations, and the status of the Hagia Sophia had also created additional concerns about the country’s political regime.

“It is no surprise that a majority of MEPs support a suspension or total ending of the accession process. In this regard the general affairs meeting which will be held on July 13 is also quite critical.”

But she believed that Turkey's hosting of 3.5 million Syrian refugees and holding one of the major transit routes toward the EU would make it hard for the member states to antagonize Ankara by stopping the accession process.

“As for further sanctions, several sanctions have already been decided upon in 2019. The accession process is practically frozen, customs union modernization talks have not started, visa liberalization is at an impasse. The EU does not really have any tools to use in order to put pressure on Turkey.”

Nas said that the use of EU funds might become conditional upon the fulfilment of political criteria.

“Funds could be made available mostly to civil society, refugee and human rights organizations, but not state organs or ministries.”


Israeli strike hits vehicle at Beirut southern entrance: state media

Updated 4 sec ago
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Israeli strike hits vehicle at Beirut southern entrance: state media

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported an Israeli strike on a vehicle on Beirut’s southern entrance, as the Israeli army said it hit a “terrorist” working for Iran.
According to the NNA, “an enemy drone targeted a car on the Khalde highway” south of Beirut.
The Israeli army said it “eliminated a terrorist responsible for smuggling weapons and advancing terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops, on behalf of the Iranian Quds Force,” the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Algeria jails historian who questioned Amazigh culture

Updated 3 min 53 sec ago
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Algeria jails historian who questioned Amazigh culture

  • He was arrested on May 3 for “the crime of undermining national unity“
  • Belghit’s lawyer Toufik Hichour said on Facebook that a court sentenced him to five years

ALGIERS: An Algerian court on Thursday sentenced historian Mohamed Amine Belghit to five years in prison for offending national symbols, his lawyer said, after remarks questioning the existence of the native Amazigh culture.

Belghit sparked outrage in the North African country when he said in a recent interview that “the Amazigh language is an ideological project of Franco-Zionist origin,” and that “there’s no such thing as Amazigh culture.”

He was arrested on May 3 for “the crime of undermining national unity” by targeting “symbols of the nation and the republic” as well as “disseminating hate speech,” the prosecution said at the time.

On Thursday, Belghit’s lawyer Toufik Hichour said on Facebook that a court outside the capital Algiers sentenced him to five years behind bars.

The prosecutor had requested seven years jailtime and a fine of 700,000 dinars ($5,400).

Algeria in 2016 granted official status to Tamazight, the language of the Amazigh people, who are also known as Berbers.

The Berber new year celebration, Yennayer, was added in 2017 to the list of national holidays.

Belghit, a university professor, is no stranger to controversies.

His remarks often cause uproar, with critics accusing him of historical revisionism and hostility toward the Amazigh people.


Iran committed to Non-Proliferation Treaty, foreign minister says

Updated 5 min 41 sec ago
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Iran committed to Non-Proliferation Treaty, foreign minister says

  • Abbas Araqchi made the comment a day after Tehran enacted a law suspending cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog
  • Iran has accused the IAEA of siding with Western countries and providing a justification for Israel’s airstrikes

Iran remains committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its safeguards agreement, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday, a day after Tehran enacted a law suspending cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.
“Our cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) will be channeled through Iran’s Supreme National Security Council for obvious safety and security reasons,” Araqchi wrote in a post on X.
President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday enacted the legislation passed by parliament last week to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, a move the US called “unacceptable.”
Araqchi’s comment on X was in response to a call from Germany’s Foreign Ministry urging Tehran to reverse its decision to shelve cooperation with the IAEA.
Araqchi accused Germany of “explicit support for Israel’s unlawful attack on Iran, including safeguarded nuclear sites.”
Iran has accused the IAEA of siding with Western countries and providing a justification for Israel’sJune 13-24 airstrikes on Iranian nuclear installations, which began a day after the UN agency’s board of governors voted to declare Tehran in violation of its obligations under the NPT.
Western powers have long suspected that Iran has sought to develop the means to build atomic bombs through its declared civilian atomic energy program. Iran has repeatedly said it is enriching uranium only for peaceful nuclear ends.
IAEA inspectors are mandated to ensure compliance with the NPT by seeking to verify that nuclear programs in treaty countries are not diverted for military purposes.
The law that went into effect on Wednesday mandates that any future inspection of Iranian nuclear sites by the IAEA needs approval by Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council.
“We are aware of these reports. The IAEA is awaiting further official information from Iran,” the Vienna-based global nuclear watchdog said in a statement.
US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told a regular briefing on Wednesday that Iran needed to cooperate fully with the IAEA without further delay.


Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq to hand over weapons in first step toward disarmament

Updated 03 July 2025
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Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq to hand over weapons in first step toward disarmament

  • “A group of guerrilla fighters will come down from the mountains and will bid farewell to their arms in an effort to declare their good will for peace and democratic politics,” PKK said
  • A PKK spokesperson said the fighters will destroy their weapons “under the supervision of civil society institutions”

IRBIL, Iraq: A Kurdish militant group that has waged a long-running insurgency in Türkiye announced Thursday its fighters in northern Iraq will begin handing over their weapons, marking the first concrete step toward disarmament as part of a peace process.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, announced in May it would disband and renounce armed conflict, ending four decades of hostilities. The move came after PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999, urged his group in February to convene a congress and formally disband and disarm.

Ocalan, 76, continues to wield significant influence in the Kurdish movement despite his 25-year imprisonment. His call to end the fighting marked a pivotal step toward ending the decades-long conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s.

In the latest development, “a group of guerrilla fighters will come down from the mountains and will bid farewell to their arms in an effort to declare their good will for peace and democratic politics,” the PKK said in a statement Thursday.

The ceremony, which is expected to take place between July 10 and July 12 in the city of Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, will be the first concrete move toward disarmament.

Zagros Hiwa, a PKK spokesperson, said the fighters will destroy their weapons “under the supervision of civil society institutions and interested parties.” The number of fighters who will take part has not yet been determined but might be between 20 and 30, he said.

For the PKK to take further steps toward disarmament, he said “the regime of isolation” imposed on Öcalan in prison “has to be abolished” and “constitutional, legal and political” must be taken to “ensure that the guerrilla who have abandoned the strategy of armed struggle could be reintegrated into democratic politics in Turkiye.”

An Iraqi Kurdish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the PKK members are expected to hand over their light weapons to the regional government.

The regional government is dominated by two parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, with the KDP overseeing the regional capital, Irbil, and the city of Dohuk. The PUK governs Sulaymaniyah.

The KDP has good relations with Türkiye and has been at odds with the PKK, while the PUK is closer to the PKK.

In Türkiye on Monday, Omer Celik, a spokesperson for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, said the PKK could begin handing over arms “within days,” but did not provide details. Celik added that Erdogan would meet with members of the pro-Kurdish party next week to discuss the peace effort.

There was no immediate statement from Türkiye’s government on Thursday’s announcement.

The PKK has long maintained bases in the mountains of northern Iraq. Turkish forces have launched offensives and airstrikes against the PKK in Iraq and have set up bases in the area. Scores of villages have emptied as a result.

The Iraqi government in Baghdad last year announced an official ban on the separatist group, which has long been prohibited in Türkiye.


Killings rise when Gaza Health Foundation distributes aid: Analysis

Palestinian children line up to receive a hot meal at a food distribution point in Nuseirat on June 30, 2025. (AFP)
Updated 03 July 2025
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Killings rise when Gaza Health Foundation distributes aid: Analysis

  • Sky News finds correlation between aid drops, increased fatalities
  • UN labels GHF sites ‘death traps,’ amid claims Israeli soldiers deliberately fire at civilians

LONDON: An investigation has found an increase in deaths in Gaza correlated with aid distribution overseen by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Health Foundation.

The GHF took over humanitarian supply systems in the Palestinian enclave in May, replacing around 400 distribution sites run by other charities and NGOs with four designated facilities, called Secure Distribution Sites.

They were meant to ensure that aid did not fall into the hands of Hamas or other armed groups, which Israel alleges frequently happened under the previous UN-backed system.

However, Gaza’s health authorities say more than 600 Palestinians have been killed trying to access aid at the sites, which the UN has labeled “death traps.” Israeli soldiers have been accused of opening fire directly at civilians.

Analysis conducted by Sky News suggests that killings rise when aid is distributed by the GHF.

Sky’s Data & Forensics Unit found that an average of 48 deaths and 189 injuries are reported when the GHF operates two or fewer aid distributions. That number rises almost threefold when it runs five to six aid drops. 

Sky reported that between June 5 and July 1, 77 aid distributions were conducted by the GHF. Of those, 23 — or 30 percent of the total — resulted in reports of violence, and at SDS4 half of all drops saw bloodshed.

A recent report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz interviewed Israeli soldiers who said they were ordered to fire at crowds of unarmed Palestinians at the GHF sites.

The Israeli military denies the allegations, but said it is investigating incidents where civilians have been harmed.

The UN, in its most recent update on June 24, put the number of casualties at GHF sites at 410, citing data available from nearby hospitals.

The GHF has been severely criticized for the manner in which aid is distributed, with footage obtained by Sky on June 15 showing Palestinians at SDS1 crowding and rummaging among hundreds of scattered aid packages discarded on the floor.

Sky’s analysis found that aid is often delivered in significantly smaller quantities than required, with supplies running out on average after just nine minutes. At 23 percent of aid drops, supplies were exhausted before the official opening time. 

Sky reported that 86 percent of distributions were announced to people in the area less than 30 minutes in advance, and that maps and instructions distributed to locals to navigate and access the sites were inaccurate or dangerous, including telling civilians trying to reach SDS2, 3 and 4 to congregate inside areas labeled live combat zones by Israel.

In addition, the congregation areas are typically some distance from the sites, causing surges when they open as people attempt to cover the open ground to access the aid.

The shortest distance from a waiting point to an SDS is 689 meters, at SDS4, approximately 10 minutes away on foot — more than the average time before supplies run out.

Sam Rose, director of operations in Gaza for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, called the GHF’s system a “free-for-all.”

He told Sky: “What they’re doing is, they’re loading up the boxes on the ground and then people just rush in.”

Rose added: “They (the GHF) don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t have anyone working on these operations who has any experience of operating, of administering food distributions because anyone who did have that experience wouldn’t want to be part of it because this isn’t how you treat people.”

A group of charities and humanitarian groups on Tuesday condemned the GHF’s operations, saying they violate international principles.

More than 200 groups have called for the reinstatement of the previous aid distribution system overseen by the UN.