The German government responded to a written inquiry submitted by the opposition Die Linke (The Left) regarding Turkey. The inquiry had been submitted before the June 24 elections, and the government published a 10-page response on the Federal Parliament’s website yesterday.

According to the Turkish service of DW, the government said Turkey is moving further away from the EU and that judicial independence has been severely weakened during the State of Emergency.

The government said they agree with the statement that “Turkey is moving away from the European Union in great strides” cited in the Progress Report by the EU Commission, and added that they are following developments after the State of Emergency “with great attention and concern”. The government stressed that any advance in Turkey’s membership to the EU is not possible under current conditions and said: “For the Federal Government, opening negotiations with Turkey on any chapter is not on the agenda. The negotiations have de facto been halted.”

The government also pointed out the negotiations for the modernization of the Customs Union between the EU and Turkey and stated that starting these negotiations is not in question because of negative developments regarding the rule of law in Turkey.

WHY IS THE INFORMATION ON THE HDP CONFIDENTIAL?

In the written inquiry, Die Linke had pointed out the state of the media in Turkey, the Erdoğan regime’s control over the media and the mass detentions and arrests against the HDP. The inquiry asked how mass detentions and arrests affected HDP’s election campaign and whether the government had “information sourced by intelligence”.

The public portion of the government’s response said, “HDP is accusing the AKP government of preventing their political activity through detentions and arrests.” The rest of the response was not shared with the public as it “includes confidential information”.

DITIB ACTIVITY

The Die Linke inquiry also criticized the Religious Affairs Turkish-Islamic Union (Diyanet İşleri Türk- İslam Birliği - DITIB), mentioning the ceremonies held in several DITIB mosques where children were put in army uniforms which was also criticized in German press. The government’s response also included critical statements, but didn’t say why no serious precautions had been developed yet. The response said, “The Federal Government is critical of the Turkish state institutions attempting to gather influence that transcends religious services through DITIB.” The Federal Government only said there are meetings being held to encourage the DITIB making independent decisions and being independent.

DOUBTS REGARDING THE AFRIN INVASION NOT RELIEVED

Another Die Linke question was about the Afrin invasion. The inquiry criticized the government for not taking a strong stance against the invasion. The government said they are demanding stronger evidence from Turkey that the invasion is “self defense” as they claim, and added: “The Federal Government’s doubts that Turkey’s operation is in line with international law haven’t been relieved in this manner to date.”