With Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defending Hamas in its war with Israel in the Gaza Strip, his country's relationship with the European Union is becoming more complicated after it was already facing difficulties as a result of years of crises and misunderstandings.
When the war broke out in the Gaza Strip after Hamas launched its unprecedented attack inside Israeli territory on October 7, Erdogan sought to play a mediation role.
However, this ambition appears to have been completely dissipated, as Erdogan declared that Hamas is a group of “mujahideen, freedom fighters” and not a terrorist organization as classified by Israel, the United States, and the European Union.
Turkey is officially a candidate to join the European Union, but the negotiations that began in 2005 have been frozen since 2018.
The European Commission indicated once again in its latest report on the status of negotiations with the candidate countries, issued on Wednesday, that Ankara is moving further and further away from the democratic values advocated by the bloc.
However, Brussels does not want to completely cut bridges with this NATO member state, which occupies a strategic location that constitutes a link between Europe and Asia.
A European official explained this week, requesting that his name not be revealed, "What the (Turkish) president is saying raises concern here in Brussels, where we always expect to see Turkey supporting our positions on the foreign policy level."
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Türkiye's defense of Hamas complicates its relationship with the European Union