Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed on Sunday that his country no longer expects anything from the European Union after procrastinating for decades in its attempt to join its membership.
Erdogan said in a speech during the opening of the Turkish Parliament its new session that Ankara no longer expects anything from the European Union, which has made us wait at its door for 40 years.
He added, “We’ve fulfilled all the promises we made to the European Union, but they have not fulfilled almost any of their promises,” stressing that Ankara won’t accept new requirements or conditions in the process of joining the bloc.
He continued, “Unless they reverse some injustices, such as the imposition of entry visas, which they use as a hidden punishment, unless they correct their mistakes… they will completely lose their right to wait for political, social, economic or military expectations from us”.
He stressed that “if the European Union has the intention to put an end to Türkiye’s accession path, which only exists on paper, this will be its business”.
Erdogan’s statements come days after the European Court of Human Rights condemned Türkiye for considering that a teacher’s use of an encrypted messaging application in connection with the alleged planners of the failed coup that the country witnessed in 2016 was sufficient evidence to sentence him to prison.
The decision, which concluded that the rights of teacher Yüksel Yalçınkaya had been violated, could set an important precedent with thousands of similar cases pending before the court based in Strasbourg.
Ankara accuses the Fethullah Gülen movement of orchestrating the attempt to overthrow Erdogan and says that the ByLock encrypted messaging application was used to coordinate the plan.
Thousands of people were arrested following the coup and convicted on charges related to the group, although Gülen, who lives in the United States, denied any involvement.
Erdogan considered that the European Court’s decision is the drop that spilled the cup, stressing that members of the terrorist organization and their supporters who were encouraged by this decision shouldn’t meditate in vain.
This decision won’t bring any relief to the miscreant members of the Gülen movement.
The Turkish president stressed that Türkiye won’t take a step back in the fight against this group of traitor s, and it won’t allow any return to the past.
