Kremlin: Nobody expects Turkey in Europe

Europeans do not wait for Turkey in Europe, in connection with which Ankara should not wear rose-colored glasses, said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation.

Journalists asked Peskov if the Kremlin believes that Turkey’s course has become more pro-European of late.

In response, Peskov said that Turkey can orient itself towards the West, and in the history of this country there were periods of more and less intensive orientation towards it.

“But we also know perfectly well that, well, if you call a spade a spade, no one wants to see Turkey in Europe, I mean Europeans. And here, our Turkish partners, too, probably should not wear rose-colored glasses,” he said.

Russia intends, despite disagreements, to develop relations with Turkey “where it is beneficial to us, and where it is beneficial to them,” Peskov summed up.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the evening of July 10 declared following a trilateral closed meeting in Vilnius, which was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, that Ankara agreed to ratify the protocol on the admission of Stockholm to the military bloc.

However, Erdogan said earlier that day that the EU must clear the way for Turkey’s EU membership before Ankara approves Sweden’s bid for NATO membership.

Turkey entered into an association agreement with the European Economic Union in 1963, applied for EU membership in 1987, and in 1999 became a candidate for full membership in the union. But since 2006, negotiations on the subsequent integration of Turkey have stalled after the Europeans accused the Turkish authorities of violating human rights in the country and Erdogan personally of authoritarian governance practices.