Erdogan affirms that there is no “reasonable justification” for blocking Türkiye’s accession process to the EU

MADRID 7 Nov. () –

The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stated this Thursday from the Hungarian capital, Budapest, that there is “no reasonable justification” for Ankara’s accession process to the European Union to remain blocked.

“There is no reasonable justification for blocking the EU accession process of a candidate country like Turkey, which has long made important contributions to the prosperity and security of Europe,” he indicated, as reported by the agency. Anatolian news.

Erdogan has said Türkiye is ready for “dialogue and cooperation.” “The political barriers and prejudiced attitudes that prevent us from establishing deeper cooperation must be overcome. Otherwise, Europe will not be able to achieve the intellectual and economic transformations it needs,” he added.

Turkey formally requested entry into the EU in 1987, although it had to wait until 1999 to be granted candidate country status and until 2005 for the start of talks. Ankara has on several occasions denounced the lack of progress in the process, the longest for the accession of a country to the bloc, which in fact has been frozen for years due to Ankara’s democratic setbacks.

The country is one of the most uncomfortable neighbors for the EU despite its candidate status due to tensions over gas exploration in waters disputed with Greece and Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, Turkish influence in Libya, Erdogan’s support for dividing Cyprus or the harassment of internal dissent, apart from the abandonment of international commitments such as the Istanbul Convention on gender violence.