EU should not turn back on Turkey: Lithuanian FM

The European Union (EU) should not turn its back on Turkey despite controversies in the country, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevicius said Monday.

"We must maintain our links, dialogue and thus hope for the least damage or tangible benefits," Linkevicius said in an interview with local broadcaster Lrt.lt.

His comments followed recent developments between the EU and Turkey which showed bilateral relations rapidly deteriorating due to European Parliament's vote on Nov. 24 to temporarily freeze EU accession talks with Ankara.

"Even given the controversies which are being observed in Turkey, we should not forget that this is a huge country, which plays important geopolitical and security role," Linkevicius underlined.

In his words, Turkey's role in the migration crisis is "very positive" and it not acting in this regard could be damaging to all of Europe.

"Relations are truly tense. There is significantly less trust from the both sides. However, we should not increase this distance even further," Lithuania's top diplomat noted.

Turkey has chosen the path of euro-integration, he added. "If there is such a will, we should not turn away -- it would be unreasonable behavior," Linkevicius said.

The European Parliament voted last week to suspend talks with Turkey on the EU membership. The vote is not binding since the decision rests with the governments of the EU members.

After the vote, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to open the country's borders and allow migrants to leave Turkey for Europe if the EU continued to push Ankara. Endit