Swedish FM Carl Bildt urges Turkey to revise Internet policies

STOCKHOLM

'We very much regret retrograde activities like the attempt to close down Twitter, which didn’t really work anyway,' Carl Bildt told HDN.

Revising Internet policies and continuing necessary economic and political reforms are in the interests of Turkey, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has suggested, stressing that the country’s only path forward is through Europe.“We very much regret retrograde activities like the attempt to close down Twitter, which didn’t really work anyway. Of course, those tendencies are something that have forced us to criticize the government,” Bildt told the Hürriyet Daily News on May 29, on the sidelines of the Stockholm Internet Forum.Well, I think it is important for the Turkish government to stay committed to economic and political reforms. Enormous progress has been made, no question about that. But more needs to be done. We very much regret retrograde activities like the attempt to close down Twitter, which didn’t really work anyway. Of course, those tendencies are something that have forced us to criticize the government.I think it’s very good that the Internet Forum will be there. Because that will make it imperative for the Turkish government to ponder these questions. There are complicated legal issues that need to be sorted out. It’s in the interest of Turkey for its democratic and European development to resolve all of these issues in the good way. I think it’s a good occasion for the Turkish government to take steps in the right direction.Yes, from the side of the European Union we have been making our views on that point clear, as you know.Well, you saw what we said in the annual [progress] report. These things are brought up. These issues will be brought up even more as we approach [accession] chapter 23 and others. They will be part of the process.No, I don’t agree. One should not exaggerate. In certain countries such as France, clearly the situation is extremely worrying. In the United Kingdom, however, it’s a somewhat more complex, more anti-EU than anti-everything else. But the worrying thing in that respect is France.Make the political and economic reforms that are necessary to continue on the European path. That is the only path that will lead Turkey forward as it approaches 2023, with nine years left to its extremely important anniversary [the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic].