On the last day of the NATO summit in Lithuania, the new NATO-Ukraine Council met for the first time today. In the run-up, Ukrainian President Selenskyj demanded more weapons, an invitation to join NATO and security guarantees. The Vice-President of the Green Left Party, Saruhan Oluç, spoke at a press conference in the parliament in Ankara on Wednesday about the relations between Turkey and Ukraine, Selenskyj's visit, the NATO discussions and the EU accession process.

Oluç said: "President Erdoğan has declared that Ukraine deserves membership in NATO. This is not a situation that should be passed over. It is an extremely critical statement not only for Ukraine and Russia, but also for the peoples of Turkey and Europe and their future. Because no NATO member state was ready to officially accept Ukraine into NATO. In particular, at the NATO summit before the invasion, there were no plans to admit Ukraine to NATO in the short and medium term. At that time, this debate was terminated. Why has Erdoğan rekindled the debate on Ukraine's NATO membership? The risks involved need to be discussed. The admission of Ukraine to NATO means that NATO and Russia will go to war. It means the Third World War. It means a bloodbath."

"If you want EU membership, fulfil the Copenhagen criteria”

Oluç remarked that the Swedish pledge to support Turkey's EU membership is purely diplomatic and has no equivalent. Addressing the government, he said, "If you want EU membership, fulfil the Copenhagen criteria. Do you want to join the EU? We want it. When the EU said you should meet the Copenhagen criteria, did it mean you should appoint trustees? Did it tell you to disagree with the Venice Commission on that ground? Did it tell you to disagree with the European Parliament and the Council? Did the EU tell you not to follow the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights? Did it tell you to violate the European Convention on Human Rights in order to meet the Copenhagen criteria? Did it tell you to fill prisons for political reasons? Did it tell you to imprison journalists? Did it tell you to fine TV stations and arrest TV journalists? Did it tell you to go on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force? Turkey was put on the grey list and accused of not taking preventive measures against terrorist financing. Did it say that you should not prevent money laundering? Is that what the Copenhagen criteria say? Did the EU say that you should continue the attacks on Saturday Mothers and not implement decisions of the Constitutional Court? Did it tell you to threaten to close the Constitutional Court? Did the EU tell you to ban the HDP and prevent the political representation of the Kurdish people in democratic politics? Did it tell you not to reform the judiciary and postpone strikes? Did it tell you to prevent the use of the right to assemble and demonstrate? Did it tell you to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention in order to implement the Copenhagen criteria? Did the EU tell you to be heavily criticised every time in the progress reports of the European Parliament, which are important for the negotiations with the EU? Every time a progress report comes out, the Foreign Ministry makes a statement saying: 'These reports are null and void for us'. Did the EU tell you that you fulfil the Copenhagen criteria?”

Oluç said that if the "Ankara criteria" mentality is not abandoned, no steps can be taken towards the EU. He concluded, "Turkey's EU membership depends on democratisation, the rule of law and the resolution of the Kurdish question."