‘Stop double standards policy,’ Turkey tells EU

Baku, Azerbaijan, June 24 By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend: Turkey’s presidential administration says the European Union should stop pursuing the double standards policy towards the country. “Turkey adheres to a clear and precise position in the talks on accession to the EU, however, the Union is using double standards against the country,” the presidential administration told Trend June 24. “President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s remarks on holding a referendum whether to continue the EU accession talks, or not, shouldn’t be seen as Turkey’s threatening the EU,” added the presidential administration. Earlier, Erdogan said Turkey can hold a referendum in order to make clear whether the country should continue the talks on accession to the EU. He further claimed Europe doesn’t want Turkey’s accession “as it is a Muslim-majority country”, and noted that “this is discrimination.” Erdogan was previously reported to say that the EU “continues to mislead Turkey [on the issue of accession]”, adding that this upsets Turkey. Ankara submitted its EU membership application in 1987, and negotiations on accession started only in 2005. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu