Turkey may part ways with EU if necessary: Erdogan

Istanbul, Sep 17

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Turkey may "part ways with the EU," suggesting that his country may end the bid to join the European bloc.

"The European Union is trying to break away from Turkey," Erdogan told journalists on Saturday in Istanbul before leaving for New York to attend the annual UN General Assembly meetings.

Turkey would make its own assessment on a recent report adopted by the European Parliament, in which the EU criticised Ankara for failing to make progress in several areas to revive its membership talks, the Turkish President added.

"After these evaluations, we may part ways with the EU if necessary," Erdogan warned.

Turkey has pursued membership in the 27-nation bloc for over two decades, yet the accession process has experienced limited advancement owing to numerous disparities between Ankara and Brussels. Since 2018, the accession negotiation process has been frozen, Xinhua news agency reported.

Regarding Sweden's application to join NATO, Erdogan said that he would align with the decision made by the Turkish Parliament.

"The West keeps saying Sweden, Sweden. We say that it's not possible for us to say 'yes' or 'no' unless our Parliament makes a decision," he added.

The Turkish leader called on the Nordic country to do its part as Ankara accuses Stockholm of failure to address Turkey's security-related concerns.

"It's not enough to just draft laws. They should be implemented," Erdogan said.