Turkish FM: EU and Turkey need each other

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - The Turkish foreign minister slammed Western countries for failing to show solidarity over 2016 defeated coup attempt, but also reaffirmed Ankara’s willingness to normalize its relations with European capitals as equal partners.

“Turkey needs the European Union and the European Union needs Turkey. We are aware of this, but some European countries, unfortunately, don't see the facts,” Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an exclusive interview with Germany’s international broadcaster DW, which was aired on Wednesday.

He criticized several EU member states, without naming them, for raising political obstacles to block Turkey’s EU membership process, despite major reform efforts by Ankara.

“Only a few countries in the European Union are actually against Turkey's EU membership. A big majority of the member states actually are in favor of Turkish EU membership,” he stressed.

Ties between Turkey and its European partners have been strained since the defeated coup in Turkey in 2016, as Turkish politicians heavily criticized Europeans for failing to show solidarity with the Turkish government against the defeated military takeover.

Cavusoglu said, he was frustrated by the attitude of some of his Western colleagues on the night of the defeated coup attempt.

“Many ministers that night actually questioned me. 3:00 in the morning how Turkey was going to treat these plotters. Instead of asking me how I was doing personally, and how the situation was in Turkey,” he said.

The defeated coup attempt of FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured in Turkey.

Asked which countries he believed had supported this defeated coup attempt and regretted its failure, Cavusoglu replied: “Unfortunately the big majority of them…. Many European countries. …Almost all of them.”

“Why nobody came to visit us after the defeated coup?” he also asked.

The Turkish foreign minister criticized several European countries for granting asylum status to coup plotters who fled the country after the defeated military takeover.