The Turkish president warns that Turkey could move away from the EU.
(Photo: Reuters)
Istanbul Turkey could move away from the EU, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “The European Union is trying to break away from Turkey. We will assess this development for our part and, if necessary, go our separate ways from the EU,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul on Saturday, without elaborating before his departure to the UN General Assembly in New York.
The background to the statements appeared to be the European Parliament’s latest report, in which MPs once again expressed their concerns about constitutional deficits in the country with a view to Turkey’s possible EU accession. The accession process could not be resumed “under the current circumstances,” it said.
The EU began accession talks with Turkey in 2005. However, these have been on hold for years because Brussels sees unacceptable developments in the area of the rule of law. Since the transition to a presidential system in 2018, Erdogan has had extensive powers. Parliament and institutions are weakened.
Immediately after his re-election in May, Erdogan called for the EU accession process to be revived. Turkey needs investment from the West in view of massive inflation and reconstruction in the earthquake region. At the beginning of September, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also spoke out in favor of speeding up the process.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry rejected the report from Brussels as “baseless” and “based on disinformation”.
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