majority of European Parliament votes to freeze..............

EUROPE


In a non-binding vote, a majority of European Parliament lawmakers were in favor of ending EU accession talks with Turkey. Whether membership negotiations actually end remains to be seen.​
Straßburg EU Parlament Sitzung Übersicht Symbolbild (picture-alliance/AA/M. Yalcin)
The European Parliament on Thursday voted to halt membership talks with Turkey after Ankara's post-coup crackdown.
MEPs voting in Strasbourg, France, said the parliament "strongly condemns the disproportionate repressive measures taken in Turkey since the failed military coup attempt."
About 37,000 people have been arrested since the coup, which alongside thousands of job dismissals and measures against Turkish media have pushed many MEPs to send a clear message to Ankara.
The non-binding motion approved by MEPs said parliament "calls... on the Commission and on the Member States to initiate a temporary freeze of the on-going accession negotiations with Turkey."
Erdogan calls vote "worthless"
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has branded the vote "worthless" as it is non-binding, noting that most EU member states - with the exception of Austria - want to keep the Turkey talks on track.
Erdogan said on Wednesday that "I want to say in advance from here and address the whole world watching on their TV screens - this vote has no value at all, no matter what result emerges."
But the motion, approved by a big majority - 479 votes to 37, with 107 abstentions - is a blow to Ankara-Brussels ties, which have frayed since the July 15 failed coup, threatening a key migration deal between the EU and Turkey. 
Turkey formally applied to become an EU member in 1987 and accession talks only began in 2005. Ankara's aspirations to become part of the bloc date back to the 1960s.
Earlier this year Brussels agreed to give visa free travel for Turks once Ankara had carried out reforms and also pledged more aid to Turkey, in exchange for Ankara cutting the number of refugees to the Greek islands.
jbh/sms (AFP, Reuters)

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