Turkey’s Erdogan holds out olive branch to Germany, EU

28 December 2017, 2:21 pm

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expresses hope for a better relationship with Germany and the EU after a fractious 2017, saying Ankara needs to reduce its enemies and increase its friends.

“Of course, we want to have good relations with the EU and with EU countries,” Erdogan tells Turkish journalists on his presidential plane while on a visit to Africa.

“I always say this. We must reduce the number of enemies and increase the number of friends,” he said, in comments published in Turkish newspapers including the Hurriyet daily.

The past year has seen Turkey’s long-running bid to join the EU grind to a virtual halt and a crisis in relations with Germany over the crackdown that followed the failed July 15, 2016 coup.

— AP