Turkiye never needed help, support from EU - Erdogan

ANKARA - Turkiye has never needed help or support from the European Union, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, reported Sputnik.

When asked whether Turkiye is ready to abandon the process of joining the EU, Erdogan said that Turkiye attaches great importance to EU decisions.

"If the EU would take such a step forward by making such a decision, we would welcome it. Turkiye has been lingering at the doorstep of the EU for the last five decades, and we were always self-sufficient. We never relied on contributions or support we received from the EU, so it's not even necessary for us," Erdogan was quoted as saying by the PBS broadcaster.

Turkiye signed the Ankara Agreement, or the Agreement Creating an Association Between the Republic of Turkiye and the European Economic Community (EEC, the predecessor of the EU), in 1963 and applied for full membership in 1987. The negotiations on Turkiye's accession to the EU began in 2005 but the accession talks have stalled over the bloc's concerns about human rights violations in Turkiye. - BERNAMA