EU has no right to dictate Türkiye’s path, says MHP leader

The European Union, which has failed to free itself from dependence on the United States, has no right to dictate how Türkiye should develop, Devlet Bahçeli, chairman of Türkiye’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the ruling alliance, stated.

“Europe has been talking about strategic autonomy for many years. But that same Europe has still failed to free its defence, political, and economic structures from Washington. How can such a Europe dare to lecture Türkiye? Those who tie their security to decisions made by the United States have no right to comment on our policies. The EU cannot dictate the direction of Türkiye’s development,” Bahçeli said during a parliamentary meeting of the MHP faction.

Bahçeli was responding to the European Parliament’s 2025 report on relations with Türkiye, which included criticism of judicial decisions taken in the country. “They do not dare criticise the security policies of the Turkish state. The Turkish judicial system will not make decisions based on reports coming from Brussels,” the politician added.

Bahçeli noted that Türkiye’s relationship with the European Union did not begin yesterday and has spanned several decades.

“The Additional Protocol of 1993, the Customs Union agreement of 1995, the granting of candidate status at the Helsinki Summit in 1999, and the start of accession negotiations in 2005 are all milestones on this long journey. However, instead of fulfilling its promises to Türkiye, the EU has acted in line with the narrow-minded calculations of some of its members, the vetoes of Greek Cypriots, political prejudices, and rusty ideological clichés. Visa liberalisation has been delayed for years. The modernisation of the Customs Union has progressed at a snail’s pace. Chapters of the negotiation process have been blocked for political reasons. Türkiye’s candidate status has often remained only on paper,” Bahçeli said.

He added that “since 2018, accession negotiations have effectively reached a deadlock” and described it as “blindness and lawlessness” that, under such circumstances, “the European Parliament is lecturing Türkiye about reforms, the rule of law, and good-neighbourly relations.”

By Jeyhun Aghazada