Brussels Cheating Ankara Out of EU Membership - Turkish Lawmaker

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Brussels is playing unfairly to prevent Turkey from joining the European Union, Burhan Kuzu, one of the aides to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told Sputnik on Monday.

"Turkey's desire to join the European Union is not anything new, Turkey has always been sincere about this. Its position has always been clear and open. Meanwhile, the European Union is double-dealing. Using Turkey's membership of NATO, it is trying to prevent Ankara from joining any other alliance," Kuzu, the member of Turkey's ruling AKP party, said.

According to Kuzu, Turkey is now both disappointed and disillusioned with the long and as yet fruitless talks on the membership.

Turkey became the candidate for EU membership in 2005, but the talks on the accession were lagging. In March, Turkey's candidature received a boost as it signed an agreement with the European Union on taking back migrants who arrived illegally in Greece in exchange for financial aid and concessions on visas.

Brussels' relationship with Ankara took a hit in the aftermath of the July's foiled coup in Turkey, when the European Union objected to the Turkish government's clampdown on those suspected of ties to the coup organizers.

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