Erdogan blasts EU for keeping Turks 'waiting at the door,' warns 'game' over

RFE/RL
Sat, 01 Oct 2016 16:51 UTC

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has used a major speech to his country's lawmakers to press the European Union to clarify its position on eventual Turkish membership and follow through on a perceived pledge to let Turks travel visa-free by this month in exchange for help stemming the flow of migrants.

Eyed with suspicion in the West as he appears to crack down on civil liberties in the wake of a failed coup, Erdogan came out swinging in the October 1 address to the opening session of the Turkish parliament.

"If the EU is going to make Turkey a full member, we are ready. But they should know that we have come to the end of the game," he said in the televised speech.

Comment: Interesting Erdogan keeps pressing this EU membership issue when his people seem to be against it: Foreign Minister Cavusoglu: Turkish people 'pressing' govt to drop aim of EU membership

He said it was no time to "beat around the bush or engage in diplomatic acrobatics," and he accused the EU of keeping Turkey's 80 million or so citizens of "waiting at the door for 53 years" since early talk of possible Turkish membership.

Formal talks began in 2005 and have stalled over political concerns as well as a lack of progress on legal and other harmonization issues.

Turkish and EU leaders agreed to a complex deal in March that Europeans hoped would curb massive migration flows into Europe in exchange for billions in aid to Ankara, fast-track visa conditions, and possible new impetus for EU membership talks.

Erdogan said the foot-dragging on visa liberalization represents "a declaration that the European Union does not wish to keep the promise it made Turkey."

But with concerns on the continent high over Islamist-fueled terror attacks, EU members already reluctant to see large numbers of foreigners on their territory are eager for Turkey to tighten its definition of terrorism first.

Comment: Here is part of Turkey's "definition of terrorism": Turkey MPs Back Extension Of Troop Mandate In Syria, Iraq

The Turkish parliament has backed extending for another year a mandate for ongoing military operations in neighboring Syria and Iraq.

Forces from Turkey have focused largely on fighting alongside Syrian rebels against militants from the radical fundamentalist Sunni group Islamic State (IS) since invading Syria in a major operation that began in late August.

But they have also targeted Kurdish militia, some of whom are allied with the United States in the multifaceted Syrian conflict that's nearing its six-year mark, as well as attacked members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.

Iraqi officials have also expressed concern as Turkish troops appear to be girding for an offensive aimed at taking the IS-held city of Mosul, in northern Iraq.

The Turkish military mandate allowing for troops to operate against terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq to its south dates back to October 2014.

Its extension was backed by ruling and opposition parties.