Turkije nerveus na uitslag Europese verkiezingen (en)
Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan i has called on the EU to stick to its commitments on Ankara's EU accession, following the triumph by conservatives in the European elections.
"We are witnessing a picture after the [European] elections that everyone interprets as negative in terms of Turkey's [EU] membership," Mr Erdogan told members of his party at a meeting on Tuesday (9 June), daily Today's Zaman reports.
The 4-7 June European elections resulted in a clear victory for centre-right parties at European level and in most individual countries.
In Germany and France, the conservative parties of Angela Merkel i and Nicolas Sarkozy i, who repeatedly spoke of their opposition to Turkey's full membership during the electoral campaign, were clear winners obtaining respectively around 38 and 28 percent.
The elections also saw the far right getting more ground and claiming increased numbers of seats in as many as ten different member states. In the Netherlands, the far-right Freedom Party of Geert Wilders i which came second in the elections has said Turkey should not become an EU member neither now, nor "in a million years."
Member states hold the most sway when it comes to enlargement decisions but the parliament issues regular reports on EU hopefuls and in the past has been critical of Ankara's progress towards EU norms in areas such as human rights.
"The tendency in Europe towards the extreme right is worrisome," Murat Mercan, the chairman of the foreign relations committee in the Turkish parliament and a top-ranking member of Mr Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, told CNN on Monday.
Turkish newspapers that day bore headlines such as "All We Needed was More Racists," "Europe forms a blockade," and "European dreams shattered."
But the Turkish premier insisted his country would continue on its EU path and stressed that the parliament – as well as the EU as a whole – has to stick to what it has promised.
"Turkey has implemented a lot of reforms and will continue this way. We have a right to ask the European parliament to keep its promises related to Turkey's membership in the organisation," Mr Erdogan said.
"The membership criteria are there. Complying with promises, the principles and rules that have been established is the basis of the spirit of unity. Those who display behaviours that do not comply with this spirit, loyalty and pact, would, before anything else, take an approach contrary to the founding principles of the EU," he warned.
For his part, Turkish president Abdullah Gul i downplayed the results at a reception in the presidential palace on Tuesday.
"The important thing is to abide by the rules and legal precedents set in the course of relations between Turkey and the EU," he said, according to Zaman.
"People who voiced opposition to Turkey today might change their position later… What matters is the opinion of the Turkish and European public," he added.
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