ANKARA: Turkey on Friday expressed disappointment after an EU summit ended with a critical statement about Ankara’s rights record and no clear progress on a customs treaty or committment on aid.
The EU in March held out a string of incentives to convince President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to make good on pledges to mend fraught relations.
Brussels is readying a plan to provide Turkey with 3.5 billion euros ($4.2 billion) in extra funding from 2021 to 2024 to help it host millions of refugees from Syria.
The leaders at their summit on Thursday told the European Commission executive body to present a formal proposal “without delay.”
But they outlined no timeframe and added that “fundamental rights in Turkey remain a key concern.”
The Turkish foreign ministry said the statement “came well short of what was expected or necessary.”
“In order to reduce tensions and start dialogue and cooperation, Turkey has done more than its share,” it said.
Ankara has been at particular odds with France and historic rival Greece over Turkish drilling operations near the divided island of Cyprus and search for natural gas in disputed eastern Mediterranean waters.
But Ankara and Athens have resumed direct talks about their dispute for the first time since 2016 and Turkey has pulled back its research vessels from the contested areas of the sea.
Erdogan and French President Emmanuel Macron have also tried to calm their war of words by exchanging personal letters and meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit this month.
Ankara expressed particular frustration with the limited progress made in Brussels on an upgrade of a customs treaty the sides reached in 1995.
The ministry called the lack of clear movement on the pact “a delaying tactic and a lack of goodwill.”
Turkey disappointed at EU summit outcome
Turkey disappointed at EU summit outcome
- The EU in March held out a string of incentives to convince Erdogan to make good on pledges to mend fraught relations
- Brussels is preparing a plan to provide Turkey with $4.2 billion in extra funding from 2021 to 2024 to help it host Syrian refugees
Syrian government vows to protect Kurds in Aleppo, accuses SDF of planting explosives
- Kurdish-led group targeting neighborhoods with mortars, machine guns, Ministry of Defense says
- Army declares Ashrafieh, Sheikh Maqsoud ‘closed military zone’ after hundreds of civilians evacuated
LONDON: The Syrian government on Wednesday affirmed its commitment to protect all citizens, including Kurds, as armed tensions in Aleppo between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces continued for a fourth day.
The Ministry of Defense accused the SDF of planting explosives on roads and setting booby traps in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, and bombarding them with mortar shells and heavy machine gun fire.
The army designated the two neighborhoods a “closed military zone” after the Syrian Arab Red Crescent evacuated 850 civilians from the area.
The government said in a statement that the SDF played no role in the city’s security and military affairs.
“This confirms that the exclusive responsibility for maintaining security and protecting residents falls upon the Syrian state and its legitimate institutions, in accordance with the constitution and applicable laws,” it said.
Protecting all citizens, including Kurds, was a non-negotiable responsibility upheld without discrimination based on ethnicity or affiliation, it said.
It also rejected any portrayal of its security measures as targeting a specific community, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
“The authorities concerned stress that those displaced from areas of tension are exclusively civilians, all of them Kurdish citizens who left their neighborhoods out of fear of escalation,” the statement said.
“They sought refuge in areas under the control of the state and its official institutions, which clearly demonstrates the trust of Kurdish citizens in the Syrian state and its ability to provide them with protection and security and refutes claims alleging that they face threats or targeted actions.”
The government called for the withdrawal of armed groups from Aleppo.
At least three civilians and a Syrian soldier have been killed and dozens more injured in Aleppo since Tuesday. Authorities have accused the SDF of targeting medical and educational facilities.
The escalation in violence has dealt a blow to an agreement between the two sides that was meant to be implemented by the end of last year.
The Syrian government reached an agreement with the SDF in March that included plans to integrate the group’s military, territory and natural resources, including oil fields, into the new government in Damascus.
