Call for Ending Turkey’s EU Accession Process

Request to end Turkey’s EU accession process

Coinciding with the announcement of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s victory in the Turkish presidential election, the leader of the largest party among those present in the European Parliament called for the end of the process of considering Turkey’s accession to the European Union.

Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People’s Party, in an interview with the Funke Media Group newspaper published in Germany on Monday, July 30th, said that neither Turkey nor the European Union wants Turkey’s full membership in the EU, and added that close cooperation between the two sides is important.

Mr. Weber further emphasized the need to stop Turkey’s efforts for full EU membership, saying that this process will lead to more obstruction than improvement.

The Turkish government officially applied for EU membership in 1999 and started negotiations on this matter in 2005. Despite all efforts over the past 18 years, the European Union has not yet agreed to this request.