The European Parliament voted Wednesday to keep Turkey's EU membership bid officially frozen, with 381 MEPs backing a re...

The European Parliament voted Wednesday to keep Turkey's EU membership bid officially frozen, with 381 MEPs backing a report that says Ankara has failed to meet the democratic and legal standards required to move forward in accession talks. The report is blunt: developments in democracy, rule of law, judicial independence and fundamental rights have not reached the bar set by the Copenhagen criteria, the political conditions every candidate country must meet. Geopolitical value, the Parliament argues, is not a substitute for actual compliance. The resolution singles out Turkey's treatment of political opposition, press freedom and civil liberties as ongoing concerns. It also explicitly cites Cyprus and stability in the eastern Mediterranean as regional issues complicating the EU-Turkey relationship, a direct reference to the unresolved division of Cyprus and Turkey's disputes with Greece over Aegean sovereignty. Parliament did not slam the door entirely. MEPs backed continued dialogue with Turkish authorities and urged deeper contacts with Turkish civil society, academics and local governments who still favor closer ties with Europe. But the message is clear: practical cooperation in areas like migration, trade and energy can continue without giving Turkey a political pass on democratic backsliding. The report acknowledges that a formal resumption of accession talks is unlikely under current conditions and proposes a more structured cooperation framework that keeps the membership process formally alive while separating it from day-to-day dealings. This keeps the EU's leverage intact without committing to a path neither side is ready to walk. The vote comes as Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis met with Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Brussels on the sidelines of an informal EU foreign ministers gathering, a sign that bilateral contacts continue even as the institutional pressure on Ankara mounts. #Greece #Turkey #EuropeanParliament