Tayyip Erdogan warns that policies implemented by “certain countries and institutions” since the start of the war in Gaza have “shaken faith” in the European Union.

“The policies implemented by some European institutions and countries” during the war in Gaza “have shaken faith in European values“, writes the president of Turkey in his message sent to the European Union on the occasion of Europe Day.

“As long as the crises, conflicts and wars affecting Europe and our common geography remain unresolved, the questioning of these values ​​will not stop intensifying“, warns Tayyip Erdogan.

“Many problems such as wars, conflicts, acts of terrorism, irregular migration and climate change (…) threaten order on the European continent,” writes the president of Turkey.

Denouncing “the rise of Islamophobia, xenophobia and racism on the continent which are one of the biggest sources of concern for citizens and migrants living in Europe”, he insists on “the discrimination and hate crimes against the Turkish community in Europe which have been done systematically”.

Erdogan says the time has come to “develop their cooperation in all areas and in the field of accession negotiations.”

Turkey has officially been a candidate country since 1999, but accession negotiations have been frozen since 2018.

And the Turkish president concludes with one more warning: “against the policies of exclusion towards our country (…), Turkey will not refrain from using and developing its opportunities and its strategic capabilities”.