Turkey's EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Ömer Çelik said on Tuesday that Turkey is facing the EU's criticism head-on, calling on EU member states to speed up negotiations on Turkey's EU accession process. These have been hampered by the EU's requests that Turkey fix problematic aspects of its counterterrorism policy which the EU says are the reason for the criticism.

Speaking to members of the Turkish and European press during meetings between Turkey and the EU Civil Society in Brussels, Minister Çelik said that Turkey has no intention of cowering to the EU's criticism, stressing that democracy demands it: "As a country that is in ongoing accession negotiations with the EU, Turkey is aware that every critique raised by EU leaders is directly related to specific chapters of the negotiations. Therefore, we implore the EU to open these chapters and resolve the problematic issues diplomatically," he said.

Minister Çelik's visit to Brussels took place five days after the European Parliament voted to freeze Turkey's EU accession talks. Commenting on this issue, Çelik said that the decision showed a lack of vision: "Instead of showing solidarity with Turkey and its people [after we] defended [our] democracy with [our bare hands] on July 15, with that decision the European Parliament tried to squeeze Turkey into a corner. This approach also nullifies the values that we share with Europe," he said.

Underlining that the EU failed to pass the ultimate test of sincerity after the July 15 coup attempt, Minister Çelik said that if the EU was able to show its support to Turkey it would be a historic example in the history of democracy. "If the EU had supported Turkey and shown solidarity as was shown after the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, this would have proven that the EU applies its democratic values to countries outside of the borders of the EU," he asserted. "It also would have sent a strong message in the name of democracy to the entire Islamic world, but the EU did not defend the democracy [of an Islamic country, Turkey]," Çelik added.

Describing the rule of law as a fundamental value and universal right of all nations, Çelik warned that some EU member states merely use rhetoric in support of human rights and democracy to serve their internal political goals, pointing to the upcoming political elections as indicative of this. Minister Çelik also said that Turkish-EU relations are going through a difficult period, emphasizing the importance of strong lines of communication and the establishment of a bridge to overcome differences between Turkey and the EU, noting: "There is a communication problem that needs to be solved. Thus, I suggest that EU leaders talk to each other rather than talking about each other. When we come to the table and talk with [EU member states], you will realize once again that Turkey has a strong will to realize the reforms," he asserted.

During his visit to Brussels, Minister Çelik will meet with the First Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, the EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Canete and the Commissioner for the Security Union, Julian King, on Nov. 29-30.