Erdogan: Turkey no longer expects anything from the EU

2023-10-02 15:46:50, Kosova & Bota CNA

Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said on October 1 that his country "no longer expects anything from the European Union, which has left us waiting at its door for 40 years."

"We have kept all the promises we made to the EU, while they have fulfilled almost none of their promises," he said before the start of the new parliamentary session in Ankara.

Erdogan added that he does not intend to "tolerate new demands or conditions in the membership process" of Turkey in the bloc.

Erdogan's anger also stems from a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which criticized Turkey last Thursday for punishing a teacher after the 2016 coup attempt on the grounds that he had downloaded an app coded for sending messages related to suspected coup plotters.

The court's ruling that Yuksel Yalcinkaya's rights have been violated could set a powerful precedent at a time when the Strasbourg-based court has thousands of similar cases before it.

Turkey blames a group led by US-based Turkish cleric Fetullah Gulen for the failed coup to oust Erdogan, claiming the messaging app ByLock was used to coordinate the plot.

Erdogan said on October 1 that the decision of the Strasbourg court "was the last blow".

"[Turkey] will not turn its back on the war against this group of traitors", he said./ REL