Forging a common European Parliament position on Turkey’s long-stalled EU bid, lawmakers voted 370 in favor and 109 against, with 143 abstentions, for an official freeze of the membership process, which would jeopardize some EU funding.
EU governments have the final say in any suspension.
Ankara dismissed the vote as meaningless. Turkish ruling AK Party spokesman Omer Celik called it “worthless, invalid and disreputable”.
Turkish foreign ministry said it expected the EP to take objective decisions and to adapt a constructive stance to contribute to Turkey’s EU accession process.
The parliament adopted its stance two days before EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is set to meet Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Brussels to discuss bilateral relations.
