Turkey no longer needs EU membership but won't quit talks - Erdogan

[Daneman]

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey no longer needs to join the European Union but will not unilaterally abandon the stalled EU accession talks, President Tayyip Erdogan told parliament on Sunday.

“We will not be the side which gives up. To tell the truth, we don’t need EU membership any more,” Erdogan said.

Turkey’s 12-year-long accession talks have ground to a halt, with the EU especially critical of Ankara’s crackdown following a failed coup last year. Tens of thousands of people including teachers and journalists have been detained.

Erdogan’s government says EU states failed to appreciate the gravity of the threat which Turkey faced, and did not respond to requests to extradite coup suspects.

“The EU failed us in a fight against terrorism,” Erdogan said on Sunday, though he also suggested the bloc still needed Turkey.

“If the EU is going to leap forward, there is only one way to do so. And it is to grant Turkey membership and start an action of cultural and economic growth,” Erdogan said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an election debate last month it was clear Turkey should not join the EU and entry talks should end, despite it being a crucial NATO ally.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu...source=twitter

Guy is delusional! EU will never accept him when he tries to turn his country into a theocracy!

[StayTuned]

This guy.

Nobody needed to know how he thinks about this, anyway. EU is not going to let him join no matter what he does, so now he's pretending to be the one who's calling quits on the talks.

Fuck off Erdogan.

[patuxz]

Solid negotiation skills

[Miyagie]

“The EU failed us in a fight against terrorism,” Erdogan said on Sunday, though he also suggested the bloc still needed Turkey.

You must have the biggest balls in the world to say that and then support the IS with billion of € with oil you bought and then even shot down russian jets that attacked the oil tracks (in another country).

[Logwyn]

You must have the biggest balls in the world to say that and then support the IS with billion of € with oil you bought and then even shot down russian jets that attacked the oil tracks (in another country).

Why is he acting like the little guy over in N. Korea or Trump?

[Miyagie]

Why is he acting like the little guy over in N. Korea or Trump?

Because dictator die like flys these days.

[Easo]

Erdo, please shut up already.
These wannabe emperors always blame someone else.

[Mehrunes]

Yeah, stalled negotiations. It's totally EU's fault Turkey never met non-economic Copenhagen criteria despite the talks already lasting forever even in just their official phase. Bad, bad EU. For not invading Turkey to force the necessary reforms that'd let it pass the criteria, I guess?

[Thoughtful Trolli]

The really dumb bad evil people finally figured out that stalling people with talking works just as well as waylaying with machine gun fire.

Especially since we've got a bunch of people who get pissy and whine in favor of the idea to rebuild a sand and lego castle on a hurricane pathway for free every five fucking years.

I swear the only real way to fix Puerto Rico is to give them A) Living shanties, B) Water and electricity, C) Forcibly converted croplands on the island for basic gruel, and D) Convert the entire remainder of the island into the first Augmented/Virtual Reality Open-world gaming paradise tourist attraction, complete with the technology to make the local gruel entree as deliciously sophisticated as anyone wants it to be. (I'm thinking blue dragon steak with red dragon's blood wine tonight.)

Then instead of pouring our hard-payed taxes into a place that isn't even a state every four years just for "humanitarian" sake, we can jump start their lives into the future as a leading example while they ascend to be the shining 51st start of the US.