While many have noted Turkey’s striking geopolitical shift toward the east, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as he headed for an EU-Turkey summit in Varna, Bulgaria (which holds the rotating EU presidency), called on the European Union to remove obstacles to its accession course.

Erdogan also made clear that he intends to call to task EU leaders – European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk – over what he believes is the EU’s failure to honour its commitments to support Turkey in handling the huge Syrian refugee problem.

Erdogan also stated today that the head of Turkey’s intelligence services will meet with a competent Iraqi official to discuss the Iraqi military operation in Sinjar, in northern Iraq.

Erdogan insists that the PKK has established an operational base there, and he warned that Turkey will do “whatever is necessary” in the event that the Iraqi operation is unsuccessful.

in.gr