EU Envoy and Parliament Speaker Slam European Parliament Report on Türkiye

Hansjoerg Kretschmer, the outgoing head of the European Commission delegation in Türkiye, visited the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara on Thursday and met with Speaker Bülent Arınç. Kretschmer's posting in Türkiye is set to end next month after five years in the role.

Kretschmer expressed personal reservations about a recent report adopted by the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, calling it politically driven and without binding weight. He credited Türkiye's parliament and government with solid progress on reform implementation during his tenure, but cautioned that Ankara needs a clearer public communications strategy to sustain its EU bid.

Speaker Arınç was equally dismissive of the report, saying the political criteria cited bore little genuine connection to established EU standards or to Türkiye's actual membership process. He described the inclusion of certain political language as troubling and said Türkiye had met the relevant benchmarks. Arınç expressed hope that the report would be revised before the end of the month.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in September 2006, in its own words.