Turkey not to abandon its interests for EU’s sake – PM

Turkey won't abandon its own interests for the sake of the European Union, the TRT Haber news channel quoted the country's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim as saying June 14.

Turkey won't ease fight against terrorism within the country even if the EU doesn't cancel the visa regime with Ankara, he added.

The EU states that Turkey is its ally, but demands from Ankara to abandon the fight against terrorism, said Yildirim.

Earlier, the then prime minister and the current president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the EU continues to mislead Turkey [on the issue of accession] and this upsets the country.

Meanwhile, the Minister for EU Affairs Volkan Bozkir noted that the accession negotiations "cannot continue in the format required by the EU," and stressed that democracy in Turkey is at a higher level than in some European countries.

Ankara submitted its EU membership application in 1987, and negotiations on accession started only in 2005.

/By Trend/