Turkey PM Erdogan tells EU to open up or ELSE in new shock threat - and Brussels hits back
TURKISH president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Brussels to open up or it would end its 50-year attempt to join the European Union.
Turkey’s president threatens to tear up EU migration deal
He said the European Union must open new chapters in Turkey's accession process, otherwise Ankara had nothing to discuss with the bloc and would say "goodbye".
His comments came after European Commissioner Johannes Hahn, who oversees EU membership bids, said Turkey under Erdogan had turned its back on joining the bloc.
Turkey PM Erdogan tells EU to open up or ELSE in new shock threat
From now on there is no option other than opening the chapters you have not yet opened. If you do not open [them], goodbye
"From now on there is no option other than opening the chapters you have not yet opened. If you do not open [them], goodbye," Erdogan said at a ceremony to mark his return to the ruling AK Party.
However EU ministers were left unimpressed by Erdogan's posturing. In view of the Turkish president's increasingly autocratic tendencies and violations of the rule of law, Brussels said it saw no prospect of EU membership for Turkey.
Turkey's correspondent to the EU Parliament, Kati Piri was left furious by Erdogan's ultimatum. She called on the EU countries to be harsher towards Turkey.
She said: "If Turkey were really interested in joining, Ankara would have had to show that. The opening of new negotiating chapters with Turkey is absolutely not up for debate.
"The EU can not be blackmailed by any country on the issue of membership, not even by Turkey. Anyone wishing to join the EU must meet the criteria. I do not see that at all in Turkey. Therefore the negotiations should be terminated."
Meeting the Russian President today, Erdogan also told Vladimir Putin that he wanted Russian trade restrictions on Turkey lifted rapidly.
Erdogan also said he would tell Mr Putin that he wanted Russian trade restrictions on Turkey lifted
Speaking in Ankara before travelling to the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi to meet Putin, Mr Erdogan told reporters that reaching a political solution to the conflict in Syria was a joint goal of Turkey and Russia.
Erdogan said he would discuss possible operations in Syria's Manbij and Raqqa with the Russian President.
Speaking at a ceremony to celebrate his return to the membership of the ruling AK Party, Mr Erdogan said he hoped his upcoming discussions with Putin and Trump would start a new era in Syria and Iraq.
The European Union must open new chapters in Turkey's accession process, President Erdogan said
He also said Turkey would not allow Kurdish militant groups to achieve their goals in northern Syria.
Turkey views the Kurdish militant group YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state for Kurdish autonomy.
Relations between Turkey and the United States have recently been strained over US support for the YPG in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.