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European Parliament demands freeze on Turkey accession talks

Xinhua, November 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

The European Commission and member states of the European Union (EU) should impose a temporary freeze on negotiations with Turkey for accession to the union, parliamentarians said on Tuesday.

In a plenary session debate with the EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini, Members of European Parliament (MEPs) slammed "disproportionately repressive measures" taken in Turkey since the failed military coup in July.

An advisory resolution will be put to the vote on Thursday in the Strasbourg hemicycle. Supported by the major political groups, the draft text has high chances of being adopted.

If the resolution is adopted, it will have no legal value. In order for negotiations to be officially suspended, the decision is left to the European Council.

Several months earlier, EU-Turkey accession negotiations had been re-launched as part of the migration agreement signed with Ankara in order to limit the number of refugees arriving on Greek coasts.

A few days ago, the Turkish president evoked the possibility of holding a referendum on the accession process if no decision was made by Brussels "before the end of the year" on the continuation of EU negotiations. Endit