Turkey: It's impossible to revise terror law

Turkey: It
# 11 May 2016 20:06 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Turkey's EU minister said in Strasbourg on Wednesday that it is "impossible" for Turkey to accept a change to its terrorism law, APA reports quoting Anadolu AGency.

Speaking with Turkish news channel NTV, EU Minister Volkan Bozkir said since recent operations against the terrorist PKK began, Turkey has had more than 450 martyrs, and that under such circumstances, it is not possible for Turkey to revise its terrorism law.

Bozkir said he "would try" to explain the situation in Turkey to the EU officials he met during the day.

Last week, the European Commission proposed visa-free travel for Turks as part of a deal which would see Turkey stem the refugee flow to Europe in exchange for speeding up the candidate country’s EU membership.

However, among five remaining benchmarks for Turkey to address in order to receive visa freedom, the EU has required a change in Ankara's legislation on terrorism -- a demand that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized and rejected.

"We will go our way; you go yours," Erdogan said last week. "The EU is telling us to change our law on combatting terrorism. [They] are allowing terrorists to raise tents and then [they] come with requirements. "

Erdogan was referring to a controversial tent raised in March by PKK supporters near the European Council building in Brussels. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the EU, the U.S., and Turkey.

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