Erdogan stands firm on changes to anti-terror law
Print Edition
PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday warned the EU that Turkey would not change an anti-terror law for the sake of a deal on visa-free travel and migrant flows, throwing up a major potential stumbling block a day after his prime minister said he was stepping down.
In a typically combative speech just 24 hours after Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he would surrender his positions of premier and ruling party chief, Erdogan vowed to put to a referendum his controversial plan of a presidential system in Turkey as “quickly as possible.”
Davutoglu had championed a landmark March deal with the European Union under which Turkey would help reduce the flow of migrants to the bloc in exchange for incentives including the promise of visa-free travel for Turks to the passport-free Schengen Area.
The European Commission this week recommended that Turks enjoy visa-free travel but Turkey must complete five more benchmarks by the end of next month to complete the EU’s list of 72 criteria.
Crucial among these are changes to anti-terror law as well as protection of personal data. But Erdogan said that Ankara had no intention of changing its anti-terror legislation to placate Brussels.
“Pardon me but we are going our way and you can go yours,” he said in Istanbul.
Amanda Paul, senior policy analyst for the independent thinktank European Policy Centre, told reporters there “is a huge risk, very big risk now, that the migration deal will collapse” after Erdogan’s warning.
“If Turkey doesn’t change the anti-terror legislation in line with what’s being demanded by the EU, it’s difficult to see how the EU can justifiably go ahead with the visa liberalization,” she added.
The departure of Davutoglu, who had cut the migrant deal after months of negotiations, has sent ripples of concern through European capitals.
Erdogan kept his distance from the talks and an anonymous blog said he had been furious at not being fully informed over the accord.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
