On Sunday 1 October, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Turkey no longer needed to join the EU.
"We will not be the side which gives up. To tell the truth, we don’t need EU membership any more”, Erdogan told the Turkish parliament. "If the EU is going to leap forward, there is only one way to do so. And it is to grant Turkey membership and start an action of cultural and economic growth”, he said.
"We are extremely uncomfortable with those who openly hinder Turkey's EU membership but adopt a tolerant attitude towards terrorist organisations", he also said, referring to the supporters of Fethullah Gulen and the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK). "Today, Europe has become a place where terrorists can move around freely and carry out all kinds of activity against Turkey's legitimate administration", he added. Several European states have not replied to Turkey's extradition requests for people accused of participating in the attempted coup of 15 July 2016, and Ankara regularly complains about the presence of the PKK flag at demonstrations in Europe.
Relations between the EU and Turkey have become complicated since the attempted coup in 2016. Several member states would like Turkey's EU accession negotiations suspended. EU heads of state and government are expected to discuss relations with Turkey at the European Council on 19-20 October. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)