Macron: It is time to stop pretending that Turkey will join the EU

French president Emmanuel Macron proposed an EU ‘partnership’ with Turkey as opposed to full integration

Presently, there is no chance of advancement towards Turkey’s EU accession, and it is time to end the hypocrisy of pretending that progress can be made, French president Emmanuel Macron told Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Instead, Macron suggested a “partnership” with Turkey rather than integration, as he thinks that the “natural progression towards the opening of new negotiation chapters” is not possible, but that the parameters of the relationship between Turkey and the EU needs to be revisited to be one of “cooperation” and “partnership”.

In a joint video conference during a visit to France by Erdogan, Macron insisted that progress towards Turkey’s integration into the EU is not to be expected in the coming years, and that it was hypocritical to suggest the contrary.

Erdogan objected, saying that Turkey’s accession process dates back to 1963. “No other country has been treated this way. It has made us seriously tired,” he said, adding that “one cannot permanently implore and wait to be included.”

The Turkish president’s trip to France in a bid to win the support of France for relaunching the accession process is his first since a failed coup in Turkey on July 2016.

In the meantime, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met with German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel today, and both agreed to make amends following disputes over Ankara’s backlash following the failed coup, which also led to the arrest of German citizens in Turkey.