From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 2 hours ago, now updated
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the European Union on Saturday of wanting to “distance itself” from Turkey while accession negotiations with Ankara stalled.
“The European Union is trying to distance itself from Turkey. We will assess the situation ourselves and could also take a different direction,” said the head of state, who was preparing to leave for New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan was questioned by the press after the EU Enlargement Commissioner called on Ankara to make progress on democracy. “The accession negotiations are currently at a standstill. In order for them to resume, very clear criteria (…) linked to democracy and the rule of law must be taken into account,” warned Hungarian Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, who visited Ankara on September 6.
Turkey, officially still an EU candidate, submitted its application to the European Economic Community in 1987 and to the European Union in 1999, but accession negotiations that began in 2005 have been on hold for several years. Relations have been very tense since the failed coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016 and the massive purges against opponents and journalists that followed.
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