Hansjoerg Haber is an experienced German diplomat who was first assigned to Turkey from 1993 to 1996. His decision to step down was confirmed by his office in Ankara, which however provided no reason.
His resignation comes in a hard time between the EU and Turkey, while Brussels are trying to keep the country on board to steam the flows of refugees and undocumented immigrants.
Meanwhile, within the European Union, several member states but also bodies have been critical of Turkey’s deteriorating record on rights and freedoms, which also imply some growing authoritarianism of President Tayyip Erdogan.
The European Commission had no immediate comment on Mr. Haber's resignation.
Mr. Haber had been highly critical of the way Turkey has failed to stop refugees and migrants making dangerous illegal boat crossings into Greece. Back in May, Turkish officials took offense at Haber’s use of an unflattering German saying, cited in local newspapers, to describe how a plan to ease visa restrictions for Turks traveling to Europe, part of the wider migrant deal, had run into problems. He was summoned by Turkey’s Foreing ministry to complain about his remarks.
Turkey and the EU have been discussing visa liberalization since 2013 and agreed in March to go ahead with it as part of the deal to halt illegal immigration from Turkey to the EU. However, the process is not moving forward due to Ankara’s refusal to narrow its definition of terrorism, which is currently used against journalists and academia.
Hansjoerg Haber's resignation is a bad sign ahead of the scheduled publication of a European Commission report on the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement.