Turkey slams European Parliament's vote to halt accession process

ANKARA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Wednesday criticized the European Parliament's vote to suspend Ankara's European Union membership talks.

The European Parliament's vote to halt Turkey's EU accession process is "worthless and invalid," Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesman Omer Celik said.

"This decision shows that the European Parliament is under the influence of far-right ideology," he said.

The European Parliament on Wednesday approved a non-binding resolution which called for an official freeze of membership negotiations with Turkey.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy called the move "unacceptable," noting Turkey expected a more objective and constructive final report at the European Parliament's general assembly.

Turkey has been an EU membership candidate for decades. But accession talks are currently on ice as the EU is increasingly criticizing the Turkish government over what it called Ankara's drift away from democracy and the European values in the wake of a failed coup in Turkey in July 2016.