A European Union that does not fully include Turkey cannot develop into a global center of power, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.
The Turkish leader also argued that Greece and Cyprus are the primary obstacles to Ankara’s path toward EU membership.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan said the accession process has slowed due to political bias rather than technical criteria, adding that disputes related to Cyprus have become a major barrier to Turkey’s European ambitions.
“The disagreements arising from the Cyprus issue have been the reason for obstructing our path to the EU,” he said. “The issue is not where Ankara is located, but where Brussels wants to position itself in the future global order.”
He warned that the EU must choose between recognizing Turkey’s strategic importance or risking weakening itself through exclusionary policies.
Drawing a comparison with Greece, Erdogan noted that Athens applied for EU membership in 1975 and joined just six years later, in 1981, while Turkey has been kept out “for purely political reasons.”
He also referred to the EU’s 2004 enlargement, when Cyprus joined the bloc, describing the decision as part of a series of “wrong and unfair choices.”
Despite his criticism, Erdogan stressed that Ankara has accepted these developments and continued its European course with patience, including the launch of accession negotiations in 2005.
He maintained that Turkey has fulfilled its obligations under the negotiation framework, while accusing European institutions of longstanding prejudice.
According to Erdogan, factors such as Turkey’s democracy, economy, population size, and religion have at times been used to justify delays in the accession process.
He further argued that Turkey’s geopolitical role has strengthened significantly in recent years, describing the country as an “island of stability” amid regional crises.
Erdogan has insisted that Ankara considers a two-state solution the most realistic option for Cyprus.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded following a coup backed by Greece. Only Turkey recognizes the Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in the island’s northern third, where it maintains more than 35,000 troops.