Ankara is moving a little further away from the European Union (EU). “Turkey no longer expects anything from the European Union, which has kept us waiting at its door for forty years,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, October 1.
“We have kept all the promises we made to the European Union, but they have kept almost none of theirs,” denounced the Head of State before the inaugural session of Parliament, adding that he will not “tolerate new demands or conditions to the accession process” from Turkey.
“If they do not reverse certain injustices such as the imposition of visas, which they use as a latent sanction, if they do not correct their errors […], they will completely lose the right to express expectations political, social, economic or military on our part,” he warned. He added: “If the European Union intends to end the accession process which only exists on paper, that will be their decision. »
Pinned by the European Court of Human Rights
The president’s anger also stems from the latest judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which singled out Turkey this week: it accuses him of having convicted a man for belonging to an armed terrorist organization by based on his simple use of the encrypted messaging application Bylock.
Bylock is considered by Ankara to be the preferred communications tool for those allegedly responsible for the failed 2016 putsch, which left 250 dead and was followed by mass arrests and purges without precedent in Turkey’s modern history.
The Turkish government has attributed the coup attempt to the FETO organization, the acronym used by Ankara for the “Terrorist Organization of Supporters of Fethullah” Gülen, of which he was once an ally, accused of being the putsch preacher.
“The ECHR’s decision is the last straw that broke the camel’s back,” Erdogan added. Members of the terrorist organization and their supporters who are encouraged by this decision should not hope in vain. This decision will bring no relief to the scoundrel members of the FETO. » “Turkey will not turn back in its fight against this gang of traitors. It will not allow any return to the past,” he insisted.
