Turkey no longer needs the European Union, Turkish autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Sunday, the T24 news website reported.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the new legislative year, Erdoğan said, “EU member states are among the countries that disappoint us the most.”
Erdoğan also stated, “We are very disturbed by those who openly hinder Turkey’s EU accession and at the same time take a tolerant stance towards terrorist organizations.” He added, “Today, Europe is a place where terrorists freely operate and plot all sorts of operations against Turkey’s legitimate government.”
Turkey has been criticized by Germany and several other EU members for Erdoğan’s crackdown on opponents, including journalists and human rights defenders, in the wake of a botched coup attempt last year. Erdoğan increased his presidential powers after a referendum in April, claiming that it was necessary to protect Turkey’s security from its domestic and foreign enemies.
Meanwhile, Bilal Erdoğan, son of Turkish President Erdoğan, has criticized Turks who are influenced by Europe, advising them not to follow “infidels,” Sputnik reported on Sunday.
Claiming during a speech in Giresun province that Turkey had not been allowed to develop as a nation, Bilal Erdoğan said that “Does it serve the purpose of Europe when we establish our national industry? I am calling on European wannabes: Why do you follow those infidels? Is it necessary? We had taught whole world what a nation is like. We are the grandchildren of ancestors who rode horses with a sword and bow to end oppression in the world.”
Bilal Erdoğan first came to public attention with when a phone conversation was leaked on the Internet in 2014 in which Bilal Erdoğan allegedly had a conversation with his father on the moving of a huge amount of money from Erdoğan’s home on Dec. 17, 2013, when a graft operation that included ministers of Erdoğan’s cabinet was revealed.
Police minutes of the investigation show that Reza Zarrab, an Iranian businessman who is jailed in New York for violating US sanctions against Iran, sent a large amount of money to the Service for Youth and Education Foundation of Turkey (TÜRGEV) linked with Bilal Erdoğan. TÜRGEV was center of debate due to transfer of $99,999,990 from the Saudi royal family.
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu frequently called the foundation linked to the Erdoğan family a “center of bribery.”
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) bought five oil tankers belonging to Erdoğan’s family using offshore companies in Malta, The Black Sea website reported in July.
SOCAR purchased the fleet from the Erdoğan family’s BMZ Group – an Istanbul-based shipping company owned by the president’s son Bilal, his brother Mustafa and his brother-in-law Ziya İlgen. (SCF with turkishminute.com)
