Erdogan: EU to put aside short-sightedness.
The Turkish president said that the European Union should put aside short-sightedness in the new year and that EU member states should not destroy relations with Turkey in the name of solidarity.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday reiterated his sharp criticism of the European Union.
According to the Anatolian News Agency, Erdogan said that in the new year, the European Union should put aside “short-sightedness” and take steps to improve relations with Turkey.
At his annual meeting with the ambassadors of the EU member states, the Turkish president added that relations between Turkey and European countries had been “damaged” by hiding behind them in the name of solidarity with the EU bloc.
He called on European countries to oppose such an approach, saying that some EU member states should “abandon the approach of resolving their problems with Turkey through the EU channel”.
“Turkey has been working on diplomatic relations and talks with the European Union, and in addition to high-level meetings and talks, it has participated in various talks on climate change, security, migration and health,” he said. They have used “obstruction tactics” against Turkey.
The Turkish president said his country would continue to negotiate with Europeans on “supply chains, asylum seekers, defense issues, xenophobia, Islamophobia and health and energy”.
Currently, relations between Turkey and the European Union are strained over issues such as the refugee crisis, the Ankara-Athens dispute over oil and gas extraction from the Mediterranean and the purchase of the Russian S-400 system by Turkey.
