Only Turkey can save EU from deadlock, says Erdoğan

Turkish President Erdoğan has argued that only his country’s full membership in the EU “can save the EU from the deadlock it has fallen into.”

Tuesday February 25 2025 09:06 pm

Duvar English

Turkish President and AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Feb. 24 argued that his country’s full membership in the European Union (EU) would solve the latter’s problems.

Speaking after the cabinet meeting, Erdoğan said, “Only Turkey (and its full membership) can save the EU from the deadlock it has fallen into, from economy to defense, from politics to international reputation.”

“It is Turkey and Turkey's full membership that will give life to Europe, whose economy and demographic structure is rapidly aging. The sooner the EU faces these realities, the better it will be for them,” he added.

Erdoğan also said that they wish to advance the membership process “on the basis of mutual benefit and respect in a constructive manner, as always.”

He also drew attention to the rise of “anti-immigrant and anti-Islamic” far-right movements, and noted, “Unfortunately, our concerns have been justified in many recent elections.”

Turkey first applied for EU membership in 1987 and become a candidate country in December 1999. Even though membership negotiations opened in October 2005, Turkey's two-decades-old bid to join the bloc has been frozen since 2018 due to EU concerns over its human rights record alongside policy disputes in the eastern Mediterranean and over Cyprus.

At the same time, the bloc depends on NATO member Turkey's help, particularly on migration issues.

Tensions in 2019 between EU-member Greece and Turkey led to Brussels threatening sanctions against Ankara and cutting off some dialogue channels. Ties have improved since 2021, with high-level talks restarting.