Turkey denounces Belgian PM's remarks on Erdogan

By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu on Thursday denounced Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel's response to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent remarks about terrorist activity in the EU country.

Describing the Belgian leader’s comments as an example of a “double standard” in EU politics, Muftuoglu said:

"The fact that the leaders of EU countries, who comment on other countries every day -- regarding it as a right for them -- are interpreting [Erdogan’s remarks] as an intervention in their own country … constitutes an example of the double-standard politics of the EU countries ….

“We evaluate Michel's remarks in this perspective," Muftuoglu told a news conference.

At a news conference before his visit to Pakistan on Wednesday, Erdogan had described Belgium as "an important center for both the PKK and [Fetullah Terrorist Organization] FETO" and criticized the country for being "insensitive".

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said earlier on Thursday, Belgian media had reported Michael claiming “President Erdogan's statements were 'absurd, unfounded and defamatory' and warned the Turkish government not to interfere with Belgium's internal affairs".

Kalin said the Belgian authorities' policy on the PKK was revealed clearly when they permitted a pro-PKK tent to be pitched during a Turkey-EU summit this March and in August, when they allowed a march by the group’s supporters marking the anniversary of its first terror attack in 1984.