Turkey does not need Europe but Europe needs us, says Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Erdogan said yesterday that his country does not need Europe but Europe needs Turkey.

“A Europe without Turkey can only lead to loneliness, despair and internal strife. Turkey does not need Europe, but Europe needs Turkey. They do not want to admit it, but the solution to Europe’s chronic problems is Turkey’s full membership of the EU,” Erdogan said during an event in Ankara.

Erdogan said that reaching power through anti-Muslim and xenophobic acts would not benefit European leaders.

The Turkish president slammed Austrian authorities for a recent incident in which they used police dogs to inspect Turkish citizens at Vienna airport.

“Can you not perform the body search yourselves? If the citizen is a woman, you should have a female police officer search her. But they don’t do that because this behaviour is characteristic of them. We do not do the same because Muslims do not oppress others,” Erdogan said.

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