Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has harshly criticized the European Parliament (EP) voting decision to freeze talks with Turkey over its EU accession, adding Turkey will never take such a decision serious.
“The European Union proved how threatening and oppressive it can be by signing a text full of false accusations which was signed on November 23, “said Erdoğan in his speech in Istanbul.
“In that text they said 'the provocation cannot be explained with freedom of expression'. But their decision is based on everything that is opposite of what they recommend us," Erdoğan said.
“We are facing propaganda which aim to contribute to the hidden goal of the parties within Turkey that the EU is cooperating with against Turkey," he said.
“It's meaningless for EU countries to expect Turkey to take them seriously while they don't even take themselves seriously," Erdoğan said.
The Turkish President once more defined the determinism to fight against terrorism, recalling the bloody coup bid of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) and the continuous attacks of the terrorist organizations that target Turkey.
“Around 250 people were martyred on the bloody coup bid night. We will extend the state of emergency as much as we find necessary. France extended the state of emergency three times up to now. This kind of a decision can be made by the Turkish parliament, not any of the European countries or others. You all, get off my case," said Erdoğan, addressing European Parliament members.
Previously on Friday, Erdoğan warned the EU not to go any further by saying Turkey would open its border gates as a response to such a possible move.
On November 23, the EP agreed on a text which indicates the need of freezing the EU membership of Turkey.
The EP agreed on nine clauses which includes the 'freeze' expression as EP agreed that Turkey is violating 7 of the 72 criteria that are crucial for the continuity of the talks.
