Erdogan: Turkey 'no longer expects anything from EU'
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized Brussels for not honoring its long-time membership promise to Turkey, saying he "no longer expects anything from the European Union".
Erdogan lambasted the EU for the many obstacles it had placed in front of Ankara during past decades to prevent the country from officially joining the European bloc.
“As Turkey, we have no expectations from the European Union, at whose door we have been kept waiting for 60 years. If they reverse their injustices, especially the visa imposition, which they use as a veiled sanction against us, they will correct their own mistakes. If they don't, they completely lose the right to expect anything from us, politically, socially, economically and militarily,” he said.
"We have kept all the promises we have made to the EU, but they have kept almost none of theirs," Erdogan said, referring to a 2016 promise by the EU under a migrant deal to lift the need for Turkish citizens visiting EU countries to get visas.
Erdogan said EU leaders have changed over the years; however, there has been no change in the old “biased attitude of the EU towards Turkey, which is unfair."
The Turkish leader said the behavior of the Europeans has been contrary to the internationally-accepted "principle of pacta sunt servanda” which requires all nations to honor their treaties and agreements.
For several decades Ankara and Brussels have been engaged in accession talks; however, progress in the talks has been essentially frozen due to political roadblocks by certain EU members.
Ankara sees the reasons hindering its EU accession as obstacles unrelated to its suitability for membership.
Erdogan told parliamentarians on Sunday that he would not "tolerate any new demands or conditions on the accession process."
The Turkish leader's EU remarks came after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled against Ankara on Thursday for allegedly convicting a teacher for downloading an encrypted messaging app used by coupsters in an abortive putsch against the government in 2016.
Erdogan said the "decision of the ECHR was the straw that broke the camel's back."
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