ANKARA (Sputnik) — Erdogan said that Ankara could choose any of the existing alternatives to the EU, stressing that Turkey would never "bow its head."
"We are of course upset by the insulting EU attitude toward Turkey. Despite this, we have not yet cut ties with the European Union. But notice, I’m saying ‘yet’… But we should not forget that Turkey has always had many alternatives," Erdogan was quoted as saying by Anadolu news agency.
On November 24, the European Parliament approved an initiative to suspend EU membership talks with Turkey. The initiative was supported by 471 parliamentarians, with 37 votes against and 107 abstentions. However, the vote was non-binding and mostly symbolic, which meant it would not be supported by the European Commission.
The Turkish authorities criticized the document, calling it illegal and even threatening to open borders for migrants willing to go to the European Union.