President tells Al Jazeera Arabic that Ankara has kept the door open, but Europe is not ready for genuine integration — and will be the loser as a result.
“Europe has kept us waiting for 53 years”
Turkey has abandoned its long-standing ambition of joining the European Union as a matter of priority, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, while insisting that Ankara has not formally closed the door on membership.
In an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic, the Turkish leader said the EU had failed to demonstrate any genuine willingness to integrate Turkey, despite decades of waiting, and warned that Europe itself would ultimately pay the price for its reticence.
“Europe has not accepted Turkey into its ranks for 53 years and is not going to do so in the future, but we have not closed our door,” Erdoğan said, without specifying the starting point for that figure.
Turkey signed the Ankara Agreement in 1963, establishing the legal basis for closer economic ties and a long-term path towards membership of the European Economic Community, the EU’s predecessor. It formally applied for full membership on 14 April 1987.
“We still consider the possibility of joining the European Union,” Erdoğan continued. “If they accept us — so much the better. If they don’t — that is also fine.”
A frozen candidacy
Turkey has been an official candidate for EU membership since 1999. Accession negotiations formally opened in October 2005, but have been effectively frozen for years amid European concerns over the deterioration of democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in the country.
According to the Council of the European Union, 16 of the 35 negotiating chapters have been opened and one has been provisionally closed. The last intergovernmental conference with Ankara took place on June 30, 2016.
In June 2018, the General Affairs Council said the talks had reached a standstill, with no plans to open or close further chapters and no further work under way on modernising the EU–Turkey customs union.
Rights concerns persist
European Commission reports have repeatedly highlighted restrictions on freedom of expression, the independence of the judiciary and the treatment of opposition figures. In its 2025 enlargement report, Turkey was assessed as being at an early stage on the chapter covering the judiciary and fundamental rights.
