Turkish PM Erdogan Upset with EU, Remains Hopeful

The EU summit’s concluding statement says that even though the reform process in Turkey is appreciated, five problem points still remain: Independence of the judiciary and its operation, bringing military-civilian relations on par with EU standards, reinforcement of the framework of basic rights, improvement of cultural rights and the situation in Southeast.

The Union refused Erdogan’s motion to revise the final conclusion declaration of the summit. Erdogan hit back by pointing out that the EU has failed to take any steps in the Cyprus issue.

At a press conference in Brussels yesterday Erdogan reproached the EU and said the summit conclusions do not reflect the accomplishments in Turkey. "Either they have no knowledge of what has been done in Turkey or they have overlooked it."

Erdogan indicated that the necessary warnings have been conveyed to the EU and Turkey will see whether or not they are paid attention to. Erdogan also criticized Brussels for not taking any concrete steps in the Cyprus issue.

"How long will this economic isolation will continue?" asked Erdogan. "This should be asked because the EU kept pushing the Annan plan on us. We have always said that we will be ahead of Greeks in this subject and we have fulfilled this. TRNC did the same. While this process continued positively, South Cyprus said, ‘We are not for the unification and we refuse the Plan;’ however, they became full EU members."