Erdoğan says EU is not a must for Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - EU membership is not a must for Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, in latest criticism of the bloc, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

“Turkey continues the EU membership process without slowing down. Since 1963 we kept our patience but they keep delaying the process except three points. The Customs Union in 1996, Helsinki Summit [Turkey was declared an EU candidate country at the Helsinki Summit in 1999] and the start of negotiations. Except for these they keep delaying us. They did not apply these procedures to other countries. This is disrespect,” Erdoğan told journalists in the Hungarian capital of Budapest.

“The EU is not a must for Turkey. It is not the Apocalypse if they do not let us in the EU. We would continue our way in steadiness,” he said.

Commenting on a recent debate on a possible membership to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the prime minister said they could apply to such organizations at any time.

“We would apply to the SCO or Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). No one has the right to ask ‘why do you apply to these?’ Besides, these are not alternatives to each other... We do not underestimate EU membership but it is not a coincidence to talk about the SCO or ASEAN. We keep searching for markets all around the world.”