The European Union (EU) needs Turkey more than the other way around, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday regarding Ankara's full membership in the powerful bloc.
"Turkey proceeds on its way persistently despite those trying to exclude it from the European family," Erdoğan said at an economic meeting, Yeni Safak reports.
Turkey applied to join what was then the European Economic Community in 1987. In 1997 it was declared eligible to join the EU. The negotiations for its accession started in 2005. But the process was stalled in 2007, due to objections raised by Greek Cypriot administration as well as Germany and France.
