ANKARA
The recent meetings between EU leaders and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were rather constructive, Turkey's foreign minister said Friday.
Mevlut Cavusoglu's comments came at a news conference with Slovakian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak in Bratislava.
President Erdogan's meetings with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, EU Council President Donald Tusk and European Parliament President Antonio Tajani were "very useful and fruitful", Cavusoglu said, referring to Thursday's closed-door meetings in Brussels which focused on Turkey-EU relations.
He said Erdogan was very clear about Turkey's expectations from the EU, adding the EU leaders were "much more positive" this time.
"Turkey has to do its homework but EU shouldn't forget that also EU has a lot of homework," he said. "EU should also review and revise its many failed policies."
As for Turkey-Slovakia relations, the minister said the relations had reached an "excellent" level, and acknowledged Bratislava's support for the Turkish government in the aftermath of last July's coup attempt.
Referring to Lajcak, Cavusoglu said: "You were the first person to call me at that night, on July 15 last year, when we had that heinous failed coup. We will never forget this. You were also the first to visit Turkey from the EU after this attempted coup."
According to the Turkish government, Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
Slovakian FM Lajcak, for his part, voiced support for Turkey's EU membership bid.
"We are ready to help and share our experiences for Turkey to be an EU member," Lajcak said, adding Slovakia also supported visa liberalization for Turkey when the necessary conditions were met.
The minister also praised Turkey's "important" role in dealing with the refugee crisis.
Cavusoglu said Ankara was grateful for Slovakia's support.
"We also welcome the constructive criticism coming from you. We know that there is nothing behind it," he said.
