STORY: Türkiye severing ties with EU in neither side's interest: analyst
DATELINE: Oct. 16, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:33
LOCATION: Ankara
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Turkish flags
2. various of the speech of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Turkish parliament (file)
3. various of some footages about the EU
4. various of a meeting of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Latvia (file)
5. various of a meeting of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the President of the European Council Charles Michel in India (file)
6. various of a meeting between Türkiye and EU about visa free regime in Türkiye (file)
7. various of some footages about the EU
8. SOUNDBITE (Turkish): MUSTAFA NAIL ALKAN, Scholar at Ankara's Haci Bayram Veli University

STORYLINE:

An end to Ankara's EU membership talks is not in the best interest of either side, Mustafa Nail Alkan, a scholar at Ankara's Haci Bayram Veli University, told Xinhua.

SOUNDBITE (Turkish): MUSTAFA NAIL ALKAN, Scholar at Ankara's Haci Bayram Veli University
"A break-up is not in the interest of either side. There is a long-existing political background behind this relationship, and there is also a big volume of trade between the two sides that cannot be easily given up."

During a speech in the parliament on Oct. 1, Erdogan said his country no longer expects anything from Brussels after waiting for decades to become an EU member.

"We have kept all the promises we have made to the EU, but the bloc has kept almost none of its," he said, and criticized the bloc for "keeping Türkiye at its door for (over) 40 years."

Alkan attributed Erdogan's comments to his country's "frustration" at the block's unwillingness to restart accession talks and take concrete measures towards meeting the Turkish demands, including the visa applications.

Data from the European Commission showed the total trade in goods between the EU and Türkiye in 2022 amounted to 198.1 billion euros (about 208.25 billion U.S. dollars), representing 3.6 percent of the EU's total trade with the world, while the EU has the lion's share in Turkish exports, according to Turkish Trade Ministry.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Ankara.
(XHTV)