EU should eliminate prejudices regarding Türkiye: Bahçeli

ANKARA

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has called on the European Union to drop its prejudices against Türkiye and pursue a more strategic partnership, particularly in key areas like energy security and defense.

Bahçeli evaluated the results of last week’s NATO summit during a weekly parliamentary meeting with his lawmakers on July 14.

“Following the Ankara Summit, one of the most important topics that will need to be revisited in European capitals is Türkiye’s EU negotiation process. Europe’s strategic future must be reevaluated and a fair future must be created,” Bahçeli said.

Describing this period as a turning point for Europe, Bahçeli noted that the EU is currently facing multiple challenges, including energy security, migration, demographic decline and defense industry capacity.

“No security equation can be permanent without Türkiye in the vast geopolitical zone stretching from Ukraine to the Black Sea, from the Balkans to the Caucasus, from the eastern Mediterranean to the Middle East,” he said.

Bahçeli also underlined that “no energy corridor is sustainable without Türkiye’s participation. No regional stability project can succeed without Türkiye’s involvement.”

Despite all these realities, the EU continues to discriminate against Türkiye due to political and ideological considerations and pressure from Greece, Bahçeli noted.

“The promises given to Türkiye were not kept. Türkiye’s rightful expectations were not met either. This approach did hurt Europe as well,” he said, underlining that Türkiye’s place is not the waiting room of the EU.

“Türkiye-EU relationship should advance on the basis of mutual respect, sovereign equality and fairness. Türkiye is not seeking privileges and not escaping obligations. What Türkiye is asking is honesty and termination of hypocrisy,” he stated.