ONLINE
\nANKARA
\nTurkey will find it \u201ccomforting\u201d if the EU says it cannot be accepted as a member, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told the BBC.
\nSpeaking to HARDtalk\u2019s Zeinab Badawi, he said Turkey was \u201cable to stand on its own two feet\u201d. He also denied the country had jailed 150 journalists, saying only two people with press cards were in prison.
\nHis claim came as Turkey extended the detention of the local director of Amnesty International and nine others.
\nIdil Eser was detained on 5 July during a digital security and information management workshop, along with seven other rights activists and two foreign trainers.
\nThe 10 are accused of being members of an \u201carmed terrorist organisation\u201d – although Amnesty says it is unclear which one. Their detention has raised alarm internationally, increasing fears that freedom of expression is being suppressed under President Erdogan.
\nThis concern has bedevilled the country\u2019s bid for EU membership, while the president has accused the bloc of wasting Turkey\u2019s time. \u201cWe are loyal to our word,\u201d he told the BBC. \u201cIf the EU, bluntly says, \u2018We will not be able to accept Turkey into the EU\u2019 this will be comforting for us. We will then initiate our plan B, and C. \u201cThe European Union is not indispensable for us… We are relaxed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ONLINE ANKARA Turkey will find it \u201ccomforting\u201d if the EU says it cannot be accepted as a member, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told the BBC. Speaking to HARDtalk\u2019s Zeinab Badawi, he said Turkey was \u201cable to stand on its own two feet\u201d. He also denied the country had jailed 150 journalists, saying only two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19676","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n