Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-002081/2025/rev.1
to the Commission
Rule 144
Emmanouil Fragkos (ECR)
The EU’s blatant disregard for Türkiye’s violations of international law and the country’s attacks on international peace remains inexplicable for all nations bordering Türkiye. Unfortunately, the methods employed by Türkiye – including by Diyanet, TİKA , TRT and Turkish banks within the EU – for ‘influencing’ EU policies need to be investigated.
Türkiye has been accused on numerous occasions of attempts to exert influence by means of illegal funding and political corruption at international level. In the US, the most recent and blatant example involved the Mayor of New York, Eric Adams. There has been a federal investigation into whether his election campaign in 2021 was illegally financed through persons with ties to the Turkish Government, with the digital devices of his associates also being seized. Furthermore, Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor to the US President, admitted that he had accepted payments to represent Turkish interests, which he had failed to declare as he advocated the extradition of Fethullah Gülen.
Türkiye has tried to exert influence through the unfair and illegal lobbying of diaspora organisations in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Can the Commission therefore answer the following:
- 1.Does it consider that the above cases establish a framework of suspicious Turkish conduct at international level, or does it believe that the country has only attempted to influence the US and not the EU, for whatever reason?
- 2.What steps has it taken and what steps is it planning to take to detect Turkish corruption in the Commission and its bodies and agencies?
Submitted: 22.5.2025