EU-Türkiye tensions flare up over EU membership

Earlier this week, the European Parliament adopted a report saying Türkiye's EU accession process cannot continue under current circumstances, and called on the EU to explore "a parallel and realistic framework" for its relationship with Ankara.

Türkiye has been an official candidate to join the EU for the past 24 years, but membership talks have stalled in recent years due to the alliance's concerns about human rights abuses and respect for the rule of law in Türkiye.

"The EU is trying to separate from Türkiye. We will make an assessment of these developments and if necessary, we can separate from the EU," Reuters quoted Erdogan as telling reporters before leaving for the United States.

Căng thẳng EU - Thổ Nhĩ Kỳ bùng phát vì chuyện gia nhập liên minh - Ảnh 1. — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Türkiye's Foreign Ministry said earlier this week that the European Parliament's report contained baseless accusations and biases, and took a "shallow and short-sighted" approach to its relations with the EU.

Mr Erdogan had previously received a commitment from Brussels to revive EU accession talks - which had been launched in 2005 - in return for Ankara agreeing to let Sweden join the NATO military alliance.

Earlier this month, EU enlargement chief Oliver Varhelyi visited Türkiye. In Ankara, Mr. Varhelyi said that while Türkiye had “huge potential” to become a member of the union, the EU needed to see action on human rights issues before talks could continue.

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