Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after the European Parliament adopted a report on the state of relations with Turkey, said that the country could take different paths with the European Union.
The Turkish leader made this statement on September 16 at a press conference in Istanbul before flying to the United States for the United Nations General Assembly.
This is reported by .
What Erdogan said about relations between Turkey and the European Union
The head of the Turkish state stated that Brussels seeks to sever relations with Ankara.
According to Erdogan, if the EU takes appropriate steps, Ankara will give its assessment.
After that, we can go with the EU in different ways, if necessary, – said the Turkish leader.
The report of the European Parliament stated, in particular, that Turkey and the EU need to find other ways of interaction, alternative to the country’s entry into the association.
MEPs noted that Türkiye is still a candidate to join the EU, but this process cannot resume unless the Turkish authorities change course.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the EP report a collection of unfounded accusations and prejudices based on disinformation from anti-Turkish circles, and MEPs as captives of populist short-term politics.
Turkey entered into an association agreement with the EU (then EEC) in 1963 and applied to join the community in 1987, but membership negotiations began only in 2005. They were repeatedly suspended due to disagreements.
At the moment, 16 and 35 points of the negotiation dossier have not been resolved, since Ankara and Brussels cannot agree on issues such as the Cyprus problem.
Erdogan previously stated that the West has not kept its word to Turkey for 50 years and is hindering the country’s accession to the EU.
The Turkish leader also stated that Sweden’s entry into the North Atlantic Alliance will become possible after Turkey is admitted to the EU.
Later, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the Turkish president had agreed to send documents to parliament to ratify Sweden’s application as soon as possible.
In exchange for ratification, Sweden, as an EU member, has promised to help step up Turkey’s admission process.
