“Europe has been hit hard by the 2008 economic crisis, which has only been deepening ever since. It has been compounded by a serious political crisis. The European Union is losing its global clout and people’s trust in its institutions, especially where it comes to Russia, Crimea, Ukraine, the events of the ‘Arab Spring’ and the civil wars in Syria,” Barış Doster told Sputnik Turkey.
“Besides, people have been losing faith in such values as democracy, human rights, law-governed state, independence and press freedoms traditionally symbolized and promoted by the European Union,” he added, commenting on the results of a recent Sputnik poll that found that a hefty majority of Europeans would like to have referendums held on their countries’ exit from the EU.
Barış Doster noted that, acting under the disguise of these universal values, US imperialists invaded Iraq and Afghanistan, which they touted as “humanitarian interventions” and a “triumph of democracy.”
“Unfortunately, all these actions have seriously eroded the Europeans’ faith in democratic values. Moreover, America’s weakening economic, political and military might makes it impossible for Washington to prop up the European Union, which is its main political ally in the world. All these factors mean that the people’s trust in the European Union and the European constitution has been seriously undermined.”
Speaking about the kind of a relationship Turkey could have with the EU now, Doster said that after the European Parliament called to suspend talks on Turkey joining the EU, Ankara should “pull out of the EU Customs Union and maintain contacts on an equitable basis as part of bilateral and multilateral agreements.”
On November 24, the European Parliament overwhelmingly voted for a temporary freeze in EU membership talks with Turkey accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of cracking down on his political opponents since the failed coup to oust him in July.
