Alwaght- Turkish Foreign Minister, in a retaliatory reaction, painted Austria as the "capital of radical racism" after Chancellor Christian Kern called the European Union to stop membership talks with Turkey following Ankara's crackdown in the wake of the botched mid-July coup.
“The Austrian chancellor should first take a look at his own country. One of the trends that is an enemy of human rights and values is racism and today Austria is the capital of radical racism,” Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview with TGRT Haber television news network on Friday.
On Wednesday, the Austrian chancellor slammed the Ankara government for the widespread purges of state institutions and a sweeping crackdown that have followed the failed coup, stating that Turkey cannot join the EU over what he termed as democratic and economic shortfalls.
Cavusoglu claimed on Friday that Brussels is not fulfilling its commitments under the March 18 refugee deal, which obliges Ankara to take back Syrian refugees landing on Greek islands, in exchange for visa-free travel for Turkish nationals, billions of euros in aid, and accelerated EU accession talks. The accord went into effect two days later.
Responding to the Turkish foreign minister's criticism, his Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz urged Ankara to exercise self-restraint and moderate its words and actions.
“I sharply reject the criticism of Austria by Turkey’s foreign minister. Ankara is called upon to moderate its choice of words and its course of action, as well as to do its homework,” a spokesman quoted Kurz as saying.
