EU considers Türkiye as rival rather than partner: Turkish FM

The EU considers Türkiye a "rival rather than a partner," and NATO members do not take Ankara's security concerns into account, the Turkish foreign minister said.

That has led Türkiye "to develop more capabilities and alternative strategies," Hakan Fidan told parliament on Thursday.

It is not a choice for us, said Fidan, underlining that it has become a necessity for the "survival of the Turkish state and nation."

"I believe that if the Union takes concrete steps to revitalise our country's membership process, this will create new opportunities for both parties," he said.

Stressing that Türkiye is determined to advance the integration process with the EU, he said the bloc must display the "necessary will."

"It is essential for the EU to get rid of the lack of strategic vision and common sense caused by the narrow self-interest of some of its members. Unfortunately, the EU does not take the same encouraging steps for Türkiye as it does for other candidate countries," he noted.

Joint committee calls for dialogue

At the 80th Türkiye-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee session on Thursday, a declaration promoted increased dialogue between the Turkish government and EU institutions, advocating for more active engagement, including high-level diplomatic discussions in Brussels.

Co-chairs Ismail Emrah Karayel and Sergey Lagodinsky emphasised the significance of strengthening dialogue between Türkiye and the EU in all areas in a statement.

The regular joint parliamentary committee meetings were acknowledged with "satisfaction" and included discussions with representatives, including Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Mehmet Kemal Bozay, Marko Makovec from the European External Action Service and Luis Romera Pintor from the Spanish Embassy representing the Council Presidency, among others.

Emphasising the importance of deepening cooperation for Türkiye's future EU membership, the co-chairs affirmed the need for joint solutions in areas such as the rule of law, democracy, economy, security, defence and addressing Russia's aggression toward Ukraine as well as energy and food security.

They called for a two-state solution for lasting peace between Palestine and Israel, urging an end to violence and civilian casualties.

Türkiye, an official candidate for joining the EU, applied for membership in 1987, and accession talks began in 2005.

In the years since, talks have been essentially frozen due to political roadblocks by certain EU members for reasons unrelated to its suitability for membership, according to Ankara.

NATO relations

As for relations with NATO, Foreign Minister Fidan said the alliance and bilateral relations in Euro-Atlantic geography have been important topics of Turkish foreign policy for the last 70 years.

"When we look at the policies implemented by some NATO countries in recent years, the support given to PKK/YPG in Syria and the sanctions imposed on Türkiye in the defence industry create a contradiction," he said.

Noting that Türkiye expressed the contradiction on every platform, he said it also harms the security of NATO countries and poses geo-strategic risks.

For Sweden's accession process, Fidan said the Turkish parliament will make a final decision.

Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership shortly after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022.