Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that Ankara does not intend to report to the EU for participating in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand.
“The European Union has been holding us back for 52 years, not allowing us to approach it, and then asks: why are we meeting with this country, why are we meeting with that one? I will conduct negotiations. In conducting these negotiations, we are not accountable to the European Union at this time. We meet with all countries of the world. I meet with Mr. Xi (President of China), I meet with Mr. Putin (President of Russia), I meet with Mr. Modi (Prime Minister of India),” Erdogan said during an interview with PBS television. His remarks were quoted by the Yeni Şafak newspaper.
The Turkish president noted that Ankara’s policy is to conduct negotiations with all countries.
“When we had meetings with member states of the European Union, they did not ask us why we were meeting with them. We will conduct the same process with them as we do with the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation,” Erdogan added.
It should be noted that the Turkish president participated in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting held in Samarkand, and afterwards stated that Turkey’s goal is to become a member of the SCO.
