TURKEY’S EU minister has hit out at Brussels and said the country has been betrayed by European leaders who are using antagonism towards Ankara to hide their own domestic problems.
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday that Turkey cannot join the EU in the near future. "Rule of law, justice and fundamental values have top priority [in accession process] and that rules out EU membership for Turkey in the foreseeable future," the commission president said, adding that the EU will always "stretch out a hand" towards Turkey. He also pleaded with Ankara to release journalists from its jails.
President Tayyip Erdogan urged the United States on Friday to review charges against a Turkish former minister for violating U.S.-Iran sanctions, saying Ankara had never agreed to comply with the embargo and the prosecution was politically motivated.
