FM: Turkey Wants To Improve Ties w/EU On Basis Of Full Membership

At a joint press conference alongside his Hungarian counterpart, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has stated that Turkey remains keen to improve ties with the European Union on the basis of full membership.

• The comments seem odd given the increasing rancour between Ankara and various European capitals over a wide range of issues. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made opponents of the leaders of France, Greece, and Cyprus in recent months, so his foreign minister talking up Turkey's EU accession comes at an odd time.
• Says the problems between Turkey and the EU can only be solved if EU leaders act with 'common sense' at Thursday's European Council summit.
• Indeed, relations between Turkey and the EU are so poor that EU member state leaders are due to discuss the prospect of imposing sanctions on Turkey at the upcoming European Council summit on Thursday.
• The meeting between Cavusoglu and Hungary's Peter Szijjarto are likely to have been a last-ditch effort to avoid the imposition of sanctions.
• At the Council level, the imposition of sanctions requires unanimity, so Turkey may be seeking to encourage Hungary to use its veto on sanctions (in addition to the veto Hungary's PM Viktor Orban is looking to use on the EU budget).