EU official: Cooperation with Turkey is important

First Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans said cooperation with Turkey is important, and asked whether the EU achieved anything regarding human rights and the situation of the media in Turkey while refraining from cooperating with Ankara.

During a speech at the European Parliament yesterday, Timmermans said that Brussels had turned its back on Turkey and both sides did not have dialogue.

During the session that was allocated to discussing the EU-Turkey deal on refugees, some MEPs expressed their opposition to the deal while others supported it on the grounds that it is the only choice that Europe has for solving the refugee crisis.

Members of the European Parliament agreed that the EU can give Turks the right to enter its territory without visas after Ankara meets all its obligations in line with the refugee deal.

Timmermans defended the agreement with Turkey saying it put an end to deaths in the Aegean Sea and diminished the number of illegal immigration trying to reach Greece from Turkey.