EU's Juncker Says Turkey Leaving Europe by 'Giant Steps'

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Tuesday said Turkey was fully to blame for the breakdown of its EU accession talks and warned Ankara was fast withdrawing from Europe.


"Turkey is withdrawing from Europe by giant steps," Juncker told an annual conference of EU ambassadors in Brussels, saying it was up to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to officially call an end Turkey's efforts to join the EU.

Juncker said he suspected that Erdogan was hoping that Europe would be the one to break off the talks "in order to blame the European Union" for their failure, AFP reported.

But the bloc must avoid "falling into the trap" as the "responsibility is entirely on the Turkish side," he said.

"The question is to know if we must put an end to the negotiations -- which is a purely theoretical question as there are no negotiations."
 (Tasnim)
29/8/17