Erdogan says Turkey might part ways with EU

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said that the European Union (EU) is trying to break away from Ankara, days after the European Parliament said Turkey’s accession to the union is still at a standstill. 

The European Parliament noted “serious deficiencies” in Turkey’s democratic institutions in its 2022 report on the country adopted last week. It criticized escalated tensions in the eastern Mediterranean where it said Ankara’s “hostile rhetoric” towards Greece and Cyprus has been “undermining regional stability.”

“It has been found that Türkiye has continued to move away from the EU, with backsliding in the area of democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental rights,” Oliver Varhleyi, EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, told the European Parliament on Tuesday.

Erdogan responded in a press conference in Istanbul before heading to New York to attend the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. “The EU is trying to break away from Turkey,” he said. “We will evaluate recent developments, and after these evaluations, we can part ways with the European Union if necessary.” 

Turkey's Foreign Ministry criticized the European Parliament report on Wednesday, stating that it contained unfounded allegations and prejudices and had a "shallow and non-visionary approach" towards the country's relationship with the EU. 

Turkey applied to join the EU in 1999 and began accession talks in 2005. Both sides worked their way through 16 of 35 chapters of negotiations and only provisionally closed one. The talks have been on ice since June 2018 when the European Council ruled out further negotiations because Ankara has been “moving further away” from the EU. The council noted a "deeply worrying backsliding on the rule of law and on fundamental rights including the freedom of expression." 

This summer, Erdogan tried to give Turkey’s EU bid a boost through NATO. Ahead of a July summit, he urged members of the military alliance to facilitate Ankara’s entry into the EU in exchange for Sweden’s admission into NATO.  

“First open the path in front of Turkey’s EU membership, and we will open the path for Sweden like we did for Finland to join NATO,” he said.