Erdogan: European Parliament vote on Turkey has ‘no value’

Let’s recall that all these things were happening long before the July 15 coup attempt.

The EU lawmakers called on suspending the EU-Turkey talks on membership during the “EU-Turkey relations” session in the European Parliament on November 22, reports Deutsche Welle. The Turkish president had told Peres during a panel at the World Economic Forum in 2009 that “when it comes to killing, you know how to kill very well”.

“When it’s a question of so many people dying, it’s inappropriate to ask who was the more barbarous”, Erdogan said in an interview with Israeli television on Monday night.

More than 110,000 people in Turkey – including soldiers, academics, judges, journalists and Kurdish leaders – have been suspended from their positions or dismissed over their alleged backing for the plotters of a failed military coup in July.

A trial also began on Tuesday of Gulen, in absentia, and 72 other people accused of trying to overthrow Turkey’s government.

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Erdogan said his administration favors a two-state solution. So far, Turkey’s journey towards joining the European Union is the longest ever when compared to all the other candidate countries.

Turkey and the EU had agreed to speed up membership talks after both sides reached a deal in March to curb migrant flows towards the European Union.

Erdogan has maintained that many in the United States and Europe are calling USA president-elect Donald Trump a “dictator” because he was not their favored candidate.

What is even worse, the said agreement has created a dysfunctional relationship in which Turkey holds the upper hand.

The move has come under heavy criticism from many Western countries. “That’s why he will play a game of brinksmanship”, said Soner Cagaptay, the director of the Turkish program at The Washington Institute.

The EU and Turkey urgently need to envision joint solutions to evolving political and security challenges that will no doubt be accelerated by a Trump presidency. He also said he was in “constant contact” with Hamas. “Erdogan will get a blank check for his executive presidency”.

Erdogan however claims the measures have weakened the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Politicians, freely-elected MPs, are in prison.

The decree was issued under emergency powers granted to Erdogan’s government by Parliament after the failed coup.

Several Turkish officials, including the country’s justice minister, have cited intelligence information that indicate Gulen plans to escape from the U.S.to another country that does not have an extradition treaty with Turkey. Then you should think the opposite. “What kind of a friendship is this?”

Cyprus blocked another six, including chapters 23 and 24, which would contribute substantially to the renewal of Turkey’s commitment to reforms in the areas of fundamental rights and freedoms. However, these countries are generally not in favor of doing this, because they are Turkey’s competitors in the market.

Domestic politics may be the driving force behind Erdogan’s statements.

Hadjigeorgiou also condemned the recent arrest of the leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP party Selahattin Demirtaş.

In the televised speech, Erdogan said anti-Trump protesters in Western nations had no respect for democracy or the result of the US election.