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The acrimony dominated a high-level meeting between the European Union and Turkey, while the two sides exchanged talks in Ankara during a meeting that should be a sign of the day. improvement of bilateral relations.
The "High Level Political Dialogue Meeting" was convened for the first time in 18 months.
European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, accompanied by Commissioner for Enlargement Johannes Hahn, met on Thursday with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
But tensions between Ankara and Brussels have emerged. "A strong Turkey means a democratic Turkey," Mogherini said at the joint press conference with Hahn and Cavusoglu.
"We have expressed our deep concern over the detention of several academics and representatives of civil society, including those recently detained," Mogherini added.
Last Friday, 13 academics and civil society figures were arrested at the 2016 national anti-government protests known as the Gezi movement.
Mogherini provoked further anguish in Turkey, calling for the European Court's decision to release Selahattin Demirtas from prison. Demirtas is a former leader of the HDP, politically pro-Kurdish. He has been imprisoned for more than 18 months for terrorism.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected the decision of the European Court, claiming that Turkey was "not bound" by this decision, although it belongs to the courts.
Cavusoglu fought back against the European commissioners who condemned Turkey's lack of progress in joining the union.
"It is useless to make statements excluding Turkey from the process of EU membership or refusing its candidacy," he said.
Ankara's candidacy to the European Union has been blocked for over a decade by members who oppose it, saying that it is not European or that it is She is concerned about the deterioration of human rights, among other reasons.
Atilla Yesilada, an analyst at Global Source Partners, suggests Thursday's strong speech by European Commissioners underlines Brussels' approach to Turkey.
"I think that unlike the United States, where the debate between Turkey and the carrot or stick is strong and inconclusive," he said. "The Europeans have long decided to keep Erdogan at arm's length, be nice to him, but give him nothing and I do not think that will change."
Commonalities were discussed, particularly opposition to Washington's new Iranian sanctions, the Syrian civil war and the refugee situation in Turkey.
Turkey is hosting more than three million Syrian refugees and, since the signing of the 2016 agreement with the EU, Ankara has been instrumental in ending an exodus of migrants to the country. 39; Europe.
According to analysts, Erdogan reminded Brussels of the importance of Turkey in preventing Syrian regime forces from taking control of the last rebel stronghold in Idlib.
"A diplomatic victory that we should attribute to Erdogan, he managed to form a coalition to defend Idlib against Assad 's attack," Yesilada said.
The growing regional importance of Ankara has laid the foundation for a new relationship with Brussels. "This is actually defined as a transactional relationship, which allows to maintain dialogue and cooperation on matters of strategic importance to both," wrote columnist Barcin Yinanc in the newspaper. Hurriyet Daily News.
Cavusolgu also expressed frustration with Brussels over the refugee deal. "We concluded an agreement on migration.In this agreement, we decided to open five chapters (chapters on EU membership), and then a decision is made against it. opening new chapters – it's hypocrisy, nothing can explain it, "he said. 2016 Migration Agreement.
Ankara maintains part of the refugee agreement included in the Brussels pledge to speed up Turkey's accession process. Therefore, some of the 35 accession chapters had to be unblocked.
Ankara regularly threatens to end the deal on migration after disputes with Brussels, but analysts suggest that Turkey is no longer the threat to Europe that it was.
"I do not think that Turkey can release the refugees, these days are over, thanks to Hungary, Slovenia has closed its borders to refugees and will not reach the center of Europe," Yesilada said. .
But he added that Brussels is interested in the stability of Turkey given the economic and financial challenges facing the country.
Continued dialogue between Brussels and Ankara is seen by some as necessary to mitigate the current repression of human rights in Turkey.
"There are a handful of (Turkish) officials who believe that there is still a margin, however small, to record progress (in human rights)," wrote columnist Yinanc. "Even changing a small sentence in a bill can at least limit the damage done to rights violations.Even if it's a significant improvement in the current suffocating circumstances, do they think probably, "she continued.
The analyst Yesilada says that the arrest of academics and human rights figures last week revealed that the European Union still had a positive effect.
"You must remember that 12 of the 13 arrested were released within 24 hours and without the pressure of the EU, all these academics would have been kept in prison for a very long time."
