AK Party Deputy Chairman and Party Spokesperson Ömer Çelik said, “Von der Leyen’s statement on the Balkans is something that should be considered as a manifestation of lack of vision. Here, the Europeans’ approach to the issue in this way is an approach that will further trigger tension lines in the Balkans and create stress.” he said.
Çelik said European Union (EU) Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “We must succeed in completing the European continent so that it does not fall under Russian, Turkish or Chinese influence.” He made evaluations to the AA reporter regarding his statements.
Stating that von der Leyen’s statements are a statement that justifies the criticisms and criticisms they have made for a long time about what the EU understands from the expansion vision and European integration, Çelik stated that the EU Commission has removed the European integration and enlargement process from an organic and values-based approach.
Pointing out that the Commission handled this issue with a mechanical and, in a sense, “Christian club” approach, Çelik said that von der Leyen’s statement contained very serious problems and a very grave approach in several respects.
Ömer Çelik said:
“First of all, it sees Türkiye, which is a candidate country for the European Union, as a rival of the European Union. However, if it is to seek integration in the Balkans, Turkey is one of the biggest facilitators and one of the biggest visionaries here. Türkiye’s Balkan vision is based on peace, against the fragmentation policies we call Balkanization, and based on values. It is really very grave that von der Leyen counts Türkiye among the countries that she positions as an opponent of the European Union.” a mental and political contradiction.”
“There is no unity within the European Union”
Stating that it is necessary to look at what the EU’s Balkan vision is, Çelik said, “For a long time, countries in the Balkans, even EU members, have had different approaches to voting, and this has been a problem for the European Union for a long time. Here, we see that the contradictions between central Europe and Balkan Europe, and between central Europe and the France-Germany line, Mediterranean Europe, are gradually deepening. One of the reasons for this is the lack of vision.” he said.
Çelik pointed out that it has once again been revealed that what Türkiye refers to as “European values” is not the same as what the Commission understands, and continued his words as follows:
“We are actually always talking about an integration based on political values. But the EU Commission is going around, trying to put forward an approach in which the central Europe dominates the rest of Europe in that narrow area. They are not only experiencing the consequences of this in their policies regarding Turkey. Today, the question of the consequences of this is ‘Is the European Union a whole within itself?’ They also live in the weakness of the answer to the question. For example, let’s ask something like this: Is there a fully agreed upon policy among EU countries regarding the war between Ukraine and Russia? Most importantly, how much of this policy has it implemented?
Secondly, is there an agreed policy on Gaza among EU countries at the level of values and political practices? Absolutely not. For example, there is a huge difference between the approach towards Israel from Germany and the approach towards Israel from Spain. While the statements made by Germany and German politicians mostly focus on excusing and legitimizing Israel’s actions, Spain stands on the right side of history and takes a strong stance against the Zionist, massacred network. For example, is there unity within the European Union on issues such as cancellation of defense agreements with Israel and stopping arms sales to Israel, which came from Spain and similar countries, most recently from Belgium? There is no. So, this lack of vision is actually something that spreads to other areas as well.”
“The political weight of the European Union is not there”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan often said, “If the European Union is to become a global power, it must include Türkiye and make Türkiye a full member.” Reminding that he said, Çelik made the following evaluation:
“As a result of resisting this, today Europe is economically a giant but politically, unfortunately, an ineffective element. Look at today’s debates about NATO, the situation that emerged with the US-Israeli attack on Iran, the Gaza issue, the war between Ukraine and Russia. The European Union does not have the political weight that it does and it does not constitute a center of gravity here.
Now, when you evaluate it within this framework, von der Leyen’s statement about the Balkans is actually a manifestation of this lack of vision, something that should be considered as a direct result. Here, their, the Europeans’, these words and this approach to the issue is an approach that will further trigger tension lines in the Balkans and create stress. “Positioning Türkiye, a candidate country for the European Union, a major NATO country, as a rival is something that shows how the European Union has been emptied of all its political foundations and how devoid of content the European Union is, let alone dealing with regional developments, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea with a vision, even when it comes to the Balkans right under its nose.”
Reminding that statements were made by the Commission spokesperson and the spokesperson’s office after von der Leyen’s statements, Çelik said, “Some actors, spokespeople, etc. are trying to recover, but this does not seem to be a situation that can be recovered. The main issue here is that the software needs to be changed. Both the software used by the European Union towards the Balkans and the software used towards Türkiye are completely wrong.” he said.
Reminding that the negotiations were completely stopped during Türkiye’s EU candidacy process, Çelik said that even the negotiations on the chapters were not held, and that this situation meant “categorical confrontation”.
“We will not respond to this lack of vision with the same lack of vision.”
Emphasizing that Türkiye is a strong Balkan, Black Sea, Mediterranean, Asian and European state, Çelik underlined that considering the recent events, Türkiye produced many approaches that saved European democracies.
Ömer Çelik said:
“Therefore, these sentences about Turkey show once again that the European Union should not look for a rival abroad. The biggest rival of the European Union is its own lack of vision. We will not respond to this lack of vision with the same lack of vision. As a candidate country, we will continue to say what the vision of Europe should be in the world of today’s conflicts. We will continue to say that the European Union should be a Europe of values, not a Christian club. We will continue to express them to be more visionary against those who use European security against other countries, as political blackmail.” We will.
So at the end of the day, Greece, which is a member of the European Union, and the so-called Greek Cypriot side are leaving and entering into cooperation with Israel in the Mediterranean. But Spain, a member of the European Union, displays a high and noble attitude towards Israel’s genocide. It seems that Europe is not integrated in producing policies. Therefore, what (von der Leyen) said towards Türkiye is not words that will harm Türkiye in any way. These are words that prove their own lack of vision. “This is not an issue that that spokesperson can fix, it is an issue that should be fixed directly by von der Leyen.”
“A great disrespect, a very unqualified approach”
Referring to CHP Chairman Özgür Özel’s words towards President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Çelik said, “CHP Chairman Özgür Özel’s mentioning our President’s name side by side with a murderer like Netanyahu in the same sentence is both a great disrespect and a very politically unqualified approach.” made his assessment.
Çelik stated that Özel’s words were a motto on how not to do politics.
Stating that Özel frequently referred to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, but that Sanchez’s attitude on Palestine was very clear from the beginning, Çelik said, “Sanchez is one of the extremely valuable voices of the alliance of humanity, of which our President is the strongest voice. However, Özgür Özel called ‘Hamas a terrorist organization’ at the beginning of the events. He calls Palestinian children ‘Israeli children’. We do not see an approach that corrects this in any way. What did he say upon the subsequent reactions? ‘I call Hamas a terrorist organization.’ I didn’t say, I said he was committing terrorism.’ he said. Özgür Özel is one of the politicians who has made the most wasteful and unqualified statements since these events started, he has become a brand in this way and unfortunately he has brought himself to this situation.” he said.
Calling on those speaking on behalf of the CHP to say these words questioning President Erdoğan’s sensitivity to Palestine in Palestine, Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem, Çelik noted that it would then be possible to see how the Palestinians would respond to the CHP members.
“I wouldn’t want Özgür Özel to fall into this situation”
Çelik pointed out that the Netanyahu mentality found support in two ways and continued his words as follows:
“There are some leaders and politicians who directly support Netanyahu, and they call themselves Zionists, even if they are from a different religion. There are many leaders, politicians, etc. who say ‘I am a Zionist’. They give direct support. There is also indirect support for the Netanyahu mentality. That is, trying to wear down those who take a clear stance against Israel’s genocidal network, like our President, like Prime Minister of Spain Sanchez, and trying to question their stance on this issue on a wrong basis, There are those who are trying to cast a shadow. I would not want Özgür Özel to be in this situation, but for a long time, Özgür Özel’s biggest effort has been spent on questioning our President’s sensitivity to Palestine, rather than opposing Israel and the Netanyahu mentality. We do not see the software and attitude here. We do not see what outcome this is trying to achieve.
Özgür Özel knows very well what he will face if he says these words in Gaza, the West Bank or Jerusalem. The adjective that describes someone who questions our President there in this way is ‘a supporter of Netanyahu’. Therefore, this partisanship sometimes appears in the form of direct support and sometimes in the form of indirect support. “So whoever tries to describe Türkiye’s President with these words turns those words into a label for himself, and it is truly a sad situation for him, for the situation his politics has fallen into, for this tragedy.”
Emphasizing that Ozel should be careful with his words, Çelik said, “The natural consequence of questioning our President’s Palestinian sensitivities is that whoever questions this, whoever attacks our President’s Palestinian sensitivities, is where he positions himself, being pro-Netanyahu, this is clear and obvious.” he said.
