Turkey still interested in joining the EU: Erdoğan

Despite all the injustices Turkey is facing from the European Union, joining the 27-member club remains to be its strategic priority, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, calling on EU envoys to lead their countries to open a new page on Turkey-EU ties.

“Despite all the injustices we face, the [full membership in] European Union remains our strategic priority. As a matter of fact, we continue to strive in this direction,” Erdoğan said at a meeting with EU ambassadors on Jan. 13 in the Turkish capital.

Erdoğan recalled that he has been observing all the stages of the full membership process of Turkey in the past 20 years as the prime minister and the president, including hypocrisy, injustice and fabricated political obstacles.

“We hope that the European Union will get rid of strategic shortsightedness in 2022 and act more boldly in developing relations with Turkey,” he suggested.

“As a candidate country, we are ready to strengthen our cooperation and dialogue with the EU. It is in our common interest to act with a long-term strategic perspective rather than prejudices or fears,” Erdoğan underlined. 

The formal negotiations started between Turkey and the EU for the former’s joining the 27-member club in 2005, but the process has de facto been suspended by Brussels due to the applicant country’s inability to fulfill the required membership criteria. Turkey says it is a political decision and calls on the EU to adopt a more adequate and honest approach towards Ankara.

Turkey and the EU had started the process of former’s joining the 27-member club in 2005, but Brussels suspended the process due to the applicant country’s inability to fulfill the required membership criteria. Turkey says it is a political decision and calls on the EU to adopt a more adequate and honest approach towards Ankara.

Erdoğan criticized the EU for delaying talks over the modernization of the customs union and the visa liberalization for the Turkish nationals, expressing his hope that progress can be made on these issues in 2022. “We did not see the response we expected from the EU to all the steps we took,” he said, recalling Turkey-EU cooperation is key for the entire region.

Some countries within the EU have interrupted the improvement of the ties between Turkey and the EU, Erdoğan said, accusing Greece and Greek Cyprus of trying to sabotage Ankara-Brussels engagement.

“The EU should not sacrifice its ties with Turkey in the name of solidarity,” he stated.