All news

Erdogan warns that Turkey may terminate talks on joining EU

The European Union started negotiations with Turkey in 2005, but the process has been virtually frozen, formally due to it being hampered by Greece and Cyprus and practically over the principled disagreement of leading EU states to consider this country as a future EU member
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan
© Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool

ANKARA, November 12. /TASS/. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that negotiations on his country joining the European Union may ‘eventually stop’ at a news conference in Ankara on Tuesday ahead of his flight to the US.

"[The EU] has levied sanctions against us since 1959. We’ve always been distracted by promises to be accepted [into the EU]. However, these promises have never been kept. You should know that today Turkey is a country that sits at the negotiation table with you, but this table is not tied to us and [the negotiations] may end soon," the Turkish president warned.

The European Union started negotiations with Turkey on joining the community back in 2005, but now this process has been virtually frozen, formally due to it being hampered by Greece and Cyprus and practically due to the principled disagreement of leading EU states, primarily France and Germany, to consider this country as a future EU member.