EU considers Türkiye as ‘rival rather than partner,’ says Turkish foreign minister

By Gozde Bayar

The EU considers Türkiye a "rival rather than a partner" and NATO members do not take Ankara’s security concerns into account, the Turkish foreign minister said Thursday.

That has led Türkiye “to develop more capabilities and alternative strategies,” Hakan Fidan told parliament.

It is not a choice for us, said Fidan, underlining that it has become a necessity for the “survival of the Turkish state and nation.”

“I believe that if the Union takes concrete steps to revitalize our country's membership process, this will create new opportunities for both parties,” he said.

Stressing that Türkiye is determined to advance the integration process with the EU, he said the bloc must display the “necessary will.”

“It is essential for the EU to get rid of the lack of strategic vision and common sense caused by the narrow self-interest of some of its members. Unfortunately, the EU does not take the same encouraging steps for Türkiye as it does for other candidate countries,” he noted.

Türkiye, an official candidate for joining the bloc, applied for membership in 1987, and accession talks began in 2005.

In the years since, talks have been essentially frozen due to political roadblocks by certain EU members for reasons unrelated to its suitability for membership, according to Ankara.

As for relations with NATO, Fidan said the alliance and bilateral relations in the Euro-Atlantic geography have been one of the important topics of Turkish foreign policy for the last 70 years.

“When we look at the policies implemented by some NATO countries in recent years, the support given to PKK/YPG in Syria and the sanctions imposed on Türkiye in the defense industry create a contradiction,” he said.

Noting that Türkiye expressed the contradiction on every platform, he said it also harms the security of NATO countries and poses geo-strategic risks.

For Sweden’s accession process, he said the Turkish parliament will make a final decision.

Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership shortly after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022.

Although Türkiye approved Finland's NATO membership, it is waiting for Sweden to fulfill its commitments not to provide shelter to terrorists or supporters of terrorists and not to facilitate their actions.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed Sweden's NATO accession protocol and submitted it to parliament in October for a ratification vote.

Türkiye is seeking to purchase from the US the latest model F-16 Block 70 aircraft, as well as 79 modernization kits to upgrade its remaining F-16s to Block 70 level.