Newsroom
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday pointed to Cyprus and Greece as key factors blocking Turkey’s long-standing path to European Union membership, arguing that political bias, not technical criteria, has slowed Ankara’s accession process.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan said disputes linked to Cyprus had become a major obstacle in Turkey’s EU ambitions.
“The disagreements that arose from the Cyprus issue were the cause of hindering our path towards the EU,” he said.
He contrasted Turkey’s experience with that of Greece, noting that Athens applied for EU membership in 1975 and joined just six years later in 1981. Turkey, he said, was left out of the process “for purely political reasons.”
Erdogan also referred to the 2004 EU enlargement, when Cyprus joined the bloc. He described the move as part of what he called a series of “wrong and unjust decisions,” referring to the Republic of Cyprus.
Despite his criticism, the Turkish president said Ankara accepted these developments and continued its EU path with patience, including during accession talks that formally began in 2005.
He said Turkey had fulfilled its obligations in the negotiation process but accused European institutions of holding long-standing prejudices against the country.
According to Erdogan, Turkey’s democracy, economy, population size, and even religion have at times been used as justification to slow its progress toward membership.
He said Ankara has had to fight not only through official EU channels but also against what he described as a “mentality” within parts of Europe.
Erdogan argued that Turkey’s geopolitical role has strengthened significantly in recent years, saying the country has become an “island of stability” amid regional crises.
He also said global politics is shifting toward a new, multipolar order and that Turkey is aiming to play a central role in it.
“The issue is not where Ankara is, but where Brussels wants to be in the world of the future,” he said, adding that an EU without Turkey’s full participation cannot become a global power center.
Erdogan warned that the European Union now faces a choice: either recognize Turkey’s strategic importance or risk being weakened by exclusionary policies.
