EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara to discuss a possible strengthening of EU-Turkey relations, Kallas posted on X on Tuesday following the closed-door meeting.
Kallas wrote that Turkey "is a key partner on security, migration, and energy, as well as an EU candidate country."
She said she had discussed Russia's war against Ukraine, conflicts in the Middle East and preparations for the NATO summit in Ankara with the Turkish president.
Turkey was making a significant contribution to protecting NATO's eastern flank, Kallas wrote.
She was accompanied by EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos and EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also attended the reception, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Rights groups criticize meeting
The meeting took place a few days before the NATO summit, which is due to be held in Ankara on July 7 and 8. In the run-up to the summit, there have been numerous arrests, and a wide-ranging ban on demonstrations has been in effect in the Turkish capital since Sunday.
Human rights organization Amnesty International criticized the meeting of EU representatives taking place at a time when Turkish authorities were banning protests and restricting press freedom.
"Economic partnerships in which human rights are sacrificed cannot provide an answer to the geopolitical problems of our time," Amnesty Turkey wrote on X.
