Turkey slams Austrian PM's remarks on EU membership

ANKARA

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu Thursday criticized Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern's recent remarks calling for ending Turkey's EU membership process, citing "the country's democratic and economic deficits."

Cavusoglu told Anadolu Agency that he received Kern's comments with "astonishment" and "regret".

In an interview on Wednesday with Austrian broadcaster ORF, Kern called accession talks with Turkey a "diplomatic fiction" and said he wanted the EU leaders to reconsider their approach to Turkey.

"We would expect Europe, of which we have always been a reliable partner, to take Turkish democracy's side and [stand] in solidarity with us," Cavusoglu said.

"But we see that our EU partners' thoughtless and domestic policy-oriented remarks are not in accord with [EU] values," Cavusoglu said.

Underlining that attacks against all Muslims in Austria increased by 42 percent in 2015 compared to previous year, Cavusoglu said Turks are exposed to increasing racist and xenophobic attacks.

"Our expectation from European politicians is not their rising racism or xenophobia," Cavusoglu said. "[Our expectation] is their support to Turkish people's reasonable struggle for democracy," he added.

Turkey has been a candidate country for EU membership since 2005.

Reporting by Meltem Bulur and Askin Kiyagan; Writing by Tutku Umac