Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

Turkey’s 12-year-long attempt to become EU member-state may end in failure as the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on to halt accession negotiations.

The European Parliament on July 6 adopted the resolution, which calls on the EU countries and the European Commission to immediately suspend negotiations with Ankara on the country's accession to the EU unless its authorities make appropriate changes to the constitutional reform.

Voting took place at a plenary session in Strasbourg, RIA Novosti reported. As many as 638 out of 751 MEPs attended the vote, with 477 voting in favor of the report, while 64 rejected and 94 abstained.

The resolution passed by parliament in Strasbourg "calls on the Commission and the member states... to formally suspend the accession negotiations with Turkey without delay if the constitutional reform package is implemented unchanged."

Some constitutional changes approved in April have already been implemented – Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been able to return to lead the ruling AK Party, and members of a top judicial body have been changed. Other steps, such as scrapping the post of prime minister, are due to take place within two years.

Turkey's EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik said Ankara regarded Thursday's vote in Strasbourg as invalid, while the foreign ministry criticized it.

"We reject with the back of our hand any proposals that there should be strong cooperation between Turkey and the EU in other areas instead of accession talks," Celik said.

"This decision, which is based on false claims and allegations, is trampling the reputation of the institution in question," the ministry said in a statement, referring to the European Parliament. "This decision is of no value for us."

The July 6 vote came as EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn visited Istanbul for talks with Celik and other Turkish ministers. Speaking before the result, Hahn said parliament was reflecting the mood in Europe.

Turkey’s ties with the EU have worsened last July after a failed coup attempt. Relations further deteriorated following an April referendum which expanded the powers of the president. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)'s recent decision to reopen a political monitoring process against Turkey also negatively affected Ankara-Brussels ties.

Accession negotiations started in 2005, but until Turkey agrees to apply the Additional Protocol of the Ankara Association Agreement to Cyprus, eight negotiation chapters will not be opened and no chapter will be provisionally closed.

The European Parliament also called on Ankara to abandon the construction of the first Turkish nuclear power plant Akkuyu.

"[The European Parliament] points out that the envisaged site is located in a region prone to severe earthquakes, hence posing a major threat not only to Turkey, but also to the Mediterranean region," the resolution said.

The parliamentarians urged Ankara to join the convention on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), "which obliges the parties to notify and consult each other on major projects that may have a significant adverse transboundary impact on the environment."

In this regard, the resolution calls on the Turkish authorities to hold consultations with the governments of neighboring Greece and Cyprus.

In 2010, Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in construction and operation of the first Turkish nuclear power plant on Akkuyu site in the Mersin province in southern Turkey.

Akkuyu is the world's first nuclear power plant project implemented on BOO ("build-own-operate") basis. In accordance with this model, Russia will build, own and operate the plant.

In December 2014, the Ministry of Environment and Urban Development of Turkey approved a report on environmental impact assessment of Akkuyu NPP project.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz