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Ankara hopes EU to keep its word on Turkey's membership

23 June 2016 17:51 (UTC+04:00)
Ankara hopes EU to keep its word on Turkey's membership

Ankara hopes that the EU will keep its word about Turkey's membership in the union, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, TRT Haber TV channel reported June 23.

Cavusoglu added that the words of President Erdogan regarding holding a referendum on the EU accession shouldn’t be seen as a threat to the EU.

The minister said that the referendum on accession to the EU may be held after the negotiations between the EU and Ankara.

On June 22, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey may hold a referendum on the continuation of negotiations regarding accession to the EU.

The Turkish president also said that Europe doesn’t want to accept Turkey because it is a predominantly Muslim country, noting that it is discrimination.

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 is upsetting to Turkey.

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.

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