ALBAWABA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Saturday that he may withdraw Turkey’s bid to join the EU, the 27-nation block known as the European Union.
“The EU is making efforts to sever ties with Turkey,” he told reporters before departing for the 78th U.N. General Assembly in New York.
“We will evaluate the situation, and if needed we will part ways with the EU,” Erdogan noted, according to Associated Press (AP).
Turkey applied to join the EU in 1999, and accession talks began in 2005. Accession negotiations were frozen in 2018 because of “democratic backsliding,” according to the European Parliament.
President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives at the European Council building in Brussels, Belgium, on May 25, 2017 amid talks on Turkey’s bid to join the EU - Shutterstock
Erdogan’s statement on Saturday came more than a week after Turkey’s foreign minister affirmed his country’s resolve to join the EU and urged the bloc to take courageous steps to advance its bid.
A report, adopted earlier this week, by the European Parliament said Turkey's accession process with the EU cannot resume under current circumstances. It also called for the EU to explore "a parallel and realistic framework" for ties with Ankara.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry said earlier this week that the report contained unfounded allegations and prejudices. It took "a shallow and non-visionary" approach to the country's ties with the EU, he added.
