Reading between the lines of President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz’s balanced but pointed comments following his meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, it is clear that there are tensions over the issues of the Syrian refugees, Turkey’s bombardment of Kurds in the southeast, and media freedom after the government took over Zaman newspaper.

“Turkey and the EU are key partners. But our partnership needs to be built on mutual trust and straight-talking,” said Mr. Schulz.

“It must be clear that in our relationship Turkey needs the EU and the EU needs Turkey. This is not a one way street. Certainly, the EU is confronting an unprecedented refugee and migration crisis. But this is also true for Turkey, and on this our cooperation is essential,” he added.

The EU wants to send non-eligible economic migrants back to Turkey but so far there has been no agreement reached, and Turkey is using the situation to push for Turks to travel visa free in the EU.

“Tackling smugglers and illegal immigration networks must be a priority for both the EU and Turkey. Readmission is one central piece of this jigsaw,” said Schulz.

The visa-free travel will only be possible after the Turkish parliament adopts several reform bills, said the official. And Turkey’s EU membership course is separate from the migrant issue, comments Schulz:

“Accession must continue to be a merit-based process. In this sense whether we look at the rule of law, the separation of powers, the freedom of the press, respect for Turkish institutions, the thorny issues must not be avoided.

On this line, I have particularly raised the strong concerns of the European Parliament regarding the alarming developments on media freedom in the country, such as the measures against the newspaper Zaman over the weekend.”

Finally, Schulz called for peace in southeastern Turkey:

The peace process has to restart. The increasing tension and violence in the South-East further destabilises an already turbulent region. We need to step back from the spiral of violence and seek dialogue among those who seek peace,” he said.

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