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EU prevention of pro-Palestine rallies shows double standard: Turkish FM

Countries that allow demonstrations targeting the Quran "under the guise of freedom of expression" are blocking protests over "the brutal killing of civilians in Palestine," Hakan Fidan says.

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Fidan also underlined that the EU should see expansion as a "geostrategic matter" if it wants to "become a global player." / Photo: AA

The prevention of pro-Palestinian rallies in some European Union countries constitutes a "double standard," Türkiye's foreign minister has said at a meeting organised by the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin according to Turkish diplomatic sources.

"Those who allow attacks on our holy book, the Quran, under the guise of freedom of expression are blocking those who want to protest the brutal killing of civilians in Palestine," Hakan Fidan was quoted as saying on Thursday.

"This is an unacceptable double standard," he added, addressing the closed ministerial-level meeting titled "EU Enlargement and Reform."

"If we cannot stop Israel from killing civilians in Gaza, how can we protect civilians in Ukraine?" Fidan asked, discussing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Asserting that the EU has been unable to take a firm and effective stance on global challenges, Fidan highlighted that the bloc needed to respect differences by allowing more countries to join.

There cannot be different standards for Ukraine and Palestine: Turkish FM Hakan Fidan

Expansion policy under question

Fidan continued his criticism towards the EU's expansion policy, saying its reliability needs to be re-established.

"Some member countries should be prevented from using the (membership) negotiation processes for their own interests. It is also wrong to turn membership negotiations into endless, open-ended processes," he was quoted as saying.

He also underlined that the EU should see expansion as a "geostrategic matter" if it wants to "become a global player."

The Turkish foreign minister departed from Berlin for the Kazakh capital Astan a after the end of the meeting, which around 20 countries attended, including host nation Germany, as well as Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Georgia, and Kosovo.