Is Erdogan aiming to end Turkey’s dream of EU membership?
Calling for a referendum on whether Ankara should end its bid for EU membership could shore up domestic political support for Erdogan ahead of crucial local elections in March 2019.
President Erdogan has renewed his call for a referendum to determine if Turkey will continue with its European Union (EU) membership talks or end them once and for all.
Addressing the TRT World Forum in Istanbul on Oct. 4., Erdogan said the EU has kept Turkey waiting for membership since 1963.
He said countries that had not fulfilled the EU’s “Copenhagen Criteria” on democracy and human rights had been fully admitted as members in the meantime in a show of leniency that was not provided to Turkey.
Indicating that there is nothing to show that Ankara’s membership path was open today, Erdogan called on the EU to come clean and declare whether it wants Turkey as a member.
