"Tomorrow, the European Parliament will vote on freezing negotiations on Turkey's accession to the EU. I say in advance, they are free to vote as they want, this voting has no real value for us. The fight for the independence and the future of our country will not be halted," Erdogan said at the session of the Islamic Cooperation Organization in Istanbul.
On November 4, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the European Union was "gravely concerned" by the crackdown in Turkey after July coup attempt. European politicians are dissatisfied with renewed attempts to reinstate the death penalty in Turkey, as well as by closures of media outlets, arrests of journalists and Kurdish opposition leaders that have shaken the country after a military faction made an unsuccessful bid to overthrow the Turkish president in July.
Turkey signed an association agreement with the then-European Community in 1963, and submitted a membership application in 1987. Talks about Ankara's membership of the European Union began in 2005. The negotiations on Turkish EU membership have been repeatedly suspended due to the Cyprus dispute and Turkey's record of denying press freedom, among other obstacles.
