Turkey does not need EU, Erdoğan says

ANKARA

Turkey does not need the European Union, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Oct. 13, one day after he used similar wording on relations with the United States amid the ongoing diplomatic crisis over visas.

“If you’re honest, make your statement and we will finish the job. We don’t need you,” Erdoğan said during an address to provincial representatives from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara.

In the speech, the president claimed that the EU has been “keeping Turkey waiting for 54 years.”

“They do not accept us. But have they put an end the process? No. They are still wasting our time. But we are being patient,” Erdoğan said.

He also slammed Brussels for not granting the right to visa-free travel to Turks in exchange for a deal to cut the migrant flow to Europe.

His harsh rhetoric came one day after he blasted the U.S., saying that if it does not accept Turkey the way it is “then we do not need you.”

Calling on Washington to “return to reason,” Erdoğan also repeated his claim that it was U.S. Ambassador to Ankara John Bass who prompted the current crisis.

“We are not a tribal state. We are the state of the Republic of Turkey and you will accept it. If you don’t, then sorry but we do not need you,” he said, addressing a meeting of provincial governors in the capital Ankara.

“The decision taken by the U.S. Consulate and the statements made after it are not related to the truth or reality. A junta within the American bureaucracy that is related to the previous administration aims to sabotage relations between the new administration and Turkey,” said Erdoğan.