Erdogan: EU-imposed conditions are lame excuses

PanARMENIAN.Net -
In the current negotiation process, the European Union demonstrates an unusual attitude to Turkey, according to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.



“Turkey started its EU membership process in 1954. Back in 1963, it submitted an official application,” he told a joint news conference with his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov.



“Over the course of the entire process which lasts about 50 years Turkey has been looking forward for a response. At the time of submitting the application, EU had 15 member states, today their number is 27. And this may last till the moment when Turkey gets a negative response. Thereafter, we'll find a way out ourselves,” Erdogan said.



Asked whether the Turkish state intends to provide a $ 10-12 billion material compensation to the Bulgarians dismissed from the country Mr. Erdogan said the lawsuit over Bulgarians’ claim was in process.



“Ankara will follow the court’s verdict,” Turkish Premier said, Haberler reported.



Turkey-EU: Turkey began full membership negotiations with the European Union in 2005, having been an associate member of the EEC since 1963, and having reached a customs union agreement in 1995. The country has also been an associate member of the Western European Union since 1992, and is a part of the "Western Europe" branch of the Western European and Others Group (WEOG) at the United Nations. The country’s EU process which started on 3 October 2005 is likely to take at least a decade to complete. The membership bid has become a major controversy of the ongoing enlargement of the European Union.