By Meltem Bulur and Nazli Yuzbasioglu
ANKARA
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged the European Commission on Friday to act faster on its pledge to deliver financial resources to Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Cavusoglu's remarks came during a joint press conference in the capital Ankara alongside EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, and EU Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner Johannes Hahn.
"The transfer of the promised 3+3 billion euros must be accelerated and should not be stuck in bureaucracy," said Cavusoglu.
He said everybody should clearly see for whom the money is being spent.
"I think we [Turkey and EU] both agree on this issue. We should help those people who live in harsh conditions more," he said.
Turkey and the EU signed a deal this March aiming to discourage irregular migration through the Aegean Sea by taking stricter measures against human traffickers and improving conditions for nearly 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.
The deal includes a 6 billion euro ($6.8 billion) aid package to help Turkey care for millions of refugees hosted in the country.
The deal also allows for the acceleration of Turkey’s EU membership bid and visa-free travel for Turkish nationals within the Schengen area, on the condition that Ankara meets 72 requirements set by the EU.
While Turkey has fulfilled most of the criteria, differences between Brussels and Ankara on anti-terror legislation have forestalled the visa liberalization deal.
According to the EU, Turkey must revise its “legislation and practices on terrorism in line with European standards" in order for visa liberalization for Turkish citizens to enter into force, a move Turkey has called unnecessary and improper.
-Turkey expects support
Cavusoglu also said Turkey expects support from the EU in Turkey's fight against terror organizations including the PKK, PKK-affiliated PYD, Daesh, and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group blamed for the July 15 coup.
"EU countries should especially not tolerate PKK supporters making terror propaganda in European institutions or cities," he said.
The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU – resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015.
Since then, PKK terrorist attacks martyred more than 600 security personnel and also claimed the lives of numerous civilians, including women and children, while more than 7,000 PKK terrorists were killed in army operations.
EU Minister Celik also called for talks on the judiciary, press freedom, and other rights to begin in Turkey’s EU accession negotiations.
"Turkey feels confident about the issues of press freedom and the rule of law," said Celik, adding that Articles 23 (on the judiciary and fundamental rights) and 24 (justice, freedom, and security) have nothing to do with the Cyprus issue.
He said that a single administration, Greek Cyprus, holding back EU-Turkey relations harms the spirit of the European Union acting as a single union.
The eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus was divided into a Turkish Cypriot state in the north and a Greek Cypriot administration in the south after a 1974 military coup on the island was followed by the intervention of Turkey as a guarantor power.
Reunification talks between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities on the island resumed in May 2015, after stalling in October 2014 over gas exploration around the island.
-‘An important EU partner’
For her part, Mogherini said the bloc would continue to cooperate with Turkey on upgrading the customs union and visa-free travel for Turks to EU countries.
She said that the EU would continue to work to be constructive and concentrate on the common challenges and common interests of the people.
"We share a set of challenges but also we have some common interests that we can pursue together.
“So we decided that our work will go on in all fields in a very constructive way on visa liberalization, on upgrading the customs union, and also including our support for Turkey’s efforts to welcome a huge number of Syrian refugees and in particular focusing on the education of children," she said.
The March deal also allows for the acceleration of Turkey’s EU membership bid and visa-free travel for Turkish nationals within the Schengen area, on the condition that Ankara meets 72 requirements set by the EU.
While Turkey has fulfilled most of the criteria, differences between Brussels and Ankara on anti-terror legislation have forestalled the visa liberalization deal.
On the Kurdish issue, she said the European Union and its members consider the PKK a terrorist organization.
"Significant actions have been taken against the PKK in the European Union and its member states in recent months and years."
"We believe all violence and terrorists attacks have to stop and arms must be laid down and a political process started. And the European Union obviously would be ready to accompany this process."
-Turkey remains a candidate country
Hahn expressed solidarity with the Turkish people, saying that it was "a deep shock" for Turkish people as well as "a deep shock for EU people to confront a coup in our immediate neighbor."
Hahn said Turkey remains an EU candidate country. "And in a candidate country, we have to apply the highest standards, as we applied these standards among ourselves.
If you are really following European affairs, European issues, you will certainly see we are not always uncritical among ourselves. We are very much critical if it is necessary."
Hahn also said he believed a solution for the visa liberalization issue is possible and that the timing is up to Ankara.
He said they told Ankara that the internal process for laying the groundwork for discussing upgrading the customs union was going well.
"And we expect it to be finalized by the end of the year and that negotiations should start at the beginning of next year,” he said.
Hahn added that to date the EU has committed 2.2 billion euros for supporting refugees in Turkey.
"And just now we have contracted more than 600 million euros and by the end of the month we should be able to contract over an amount of around one billion euros," Hahn said.
He also said a 300 million euro contract is on the way to support the education of the Syrian kids.
